Dissonance
by Crossroader32
Summary: Tsuji Kaed had always been deemed as someone who could never make any waves, forever a flat line. Life is filled with pitfalls, changing tides and complicated puzzles. Toss in a wacky group of old and new friends, the drama of reality, the hidden depths of others and Kaed might just find the resolution she lost or risk falling to her own regrets.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Wow I start a new story just now after putting everything else on Hiatus. I really need to learn how to get organized. Anyway I'm trying something a little different than my usual all canon humor stories. Yep, an OC story, in a whole different fandom; this idea has been bugging me for the last few weeks and I'm just getting to trying it out. Doesn't help that I've gone back to trying to complete AMVs either. Hopefully it doesn't crash and burn. Now enjoy this super short but important intro!**

* * *

**Break 0: Prologue**

* * *

_Dissonance, -noun; discord, disagreement, or incongruity._

_When something is dropped into the calm water a ripple effect is created. No matter how small the movement it will be carried on._

* * *

The consistent tapping of a pencil was the only source of sound in the dimly lit bedroom. A mildly disheveled female sat in front of a plain wooden desk tapping the pencil in thought. Letters and papers were scattered carelessly on the smooth surface; all filled with words both of honesty and dishonesty. With a sigh the girl leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes, recalling why she was staying up so late the night before school officially started.

_"Oi! Kaed-chan!" a petite black haired girl called out to the other female who was currently on her way back from picking up the groceries. _

_ Turning to face the other girl Kaed raised a questioning eyebrow, "Etsu-san?" _

_ The other girl huffed in annoyance, "I told you to drop the –san already! We are friends after all."_

_ "I will when I can alright," Kaed said, "Anyway, what brings you here?"_

_ "Oh!" Etsu straightened up, "A few of my friends are also going to Kaijou along with some other girls they know. I told them that you went to Teiko and knew the Generation of Miracles personally." The girls smiled awkwardly and scratched the back of her neck. _

_ Now quite suspicious of her long-time friend Kaed held her gaze, "And?"_

_ Etsu was now chuckling forcibly, "Well, I kind of told them that you were close to Kise Ryouta so. . .," she drifted off._

_ "I see," Kaed deadpanned, it wasn't the first time this had happened after all. Being the somewhat flamboyant model's minder, did have its downsides. This was one of them. "So you have the letters on you now?"_

_ "Ha ha. Yep, right here," Etsu said handing the dark brunette a small stack of letters. "I'd best be off!" Smiling she hastily jogged down the street, about half-way out of sight yet still in earshot Etsu turned and called out one last time. "Oh yeah! I kind of sort of maybe told them that you could introduce them to him!" _

_ Kaed stared at her friend dumbfounded before collecting herself, "Etsuuuuuuu-saaaaaan! I keep telling you. You can't just volunteer me for things!" _

_ At the sight of a ticked off Kaed, Etsu quickly began running again, yelling over her shoulder, "I only do that because I can rely on you!"_

Kaed let her head drop onto her desk at the memory and groaned. Etsu sure was a handful sometimes. Propping her head up on her hand she sighed, "Always the reliable one," she murmured.


	2. Chapter 2

**Break 1: Same Song Different Chorus**

* * *

_Everyone lives to their own tune; creating a beautiful dysfunction of melodies._

* * *

Hiraoka Etsu was not a patient person. Honestly, Kaed _knew_ that, so why was she so late (by normal Kaed standards)? Tapping her foot impatiently Etsu scanned the crowds of students flowing into the school, trying to spot her auburn eyed friend amidst all of the other students. A tap on her shoulder caused the black haired girl to whip around; expecting to see her friend she stopped short when she saw it was in fact _not_ Kaed but a (very tall) male instead. All the berating she was readying died instantly as she recognized the face that was in magazines everywhere. "O-oh! Kise-san! What a pleasant surprise," Etsu's smiled twitched slightly as she noted the stares and glares they were getting.

Kise returned the smile in full but then scratched his cheek sheepishly, "Eh, well I was wondering if you had seen Tsujicchi yet-ssu. She hasn't even replied to my messages."

If anything, Etsu was having an increasingly hard time restraining herself from going on a full on man hunt. Kaed wasn't the type to spontaneously skip out on a meeting without prior notice. And not even responding to Kise? Even stranger, just what was going on? "Sorry Kise-san, I'm the same."

"Oh," Kise let a small frown escape. It wasn't like the girl to just seemingly disappear off the face of the Earth, that was Kuroko's job.

"Etsu-san? Kise? What are you guys just standing there for? You're blocking the path," a voice cut in on the duo's thinking.

Etsu tilted her head in confusion but then perked up, "Kaed-chan! I thought you had been kidnapped or something!"

The brunette regarded her friend warily, "What gave you that idea?" She knew her petite friend had a big imagination but this; this was just downright _strange_.

Shrugging, Etsu grabbed one of Kaed's arms and began dragging her away, "Never mind that. I have some people I want you to meet."

Poor Kise was left alone without even a greeting.

* * *

As she was being dragged along much to the curiosity of the other students they passed, Kaed was being interrogated on her being late to the time they had agreed on. An exasperated sigh left her lips as she tried to explain what had happened, "Look I stayed up late last night so I overslept this morning. And I didn't reply to anything because my phone was turned off. See? Simple and logical explanation."

Etsu looked somewhat disappointed at the mundane explanation, but accepted it nonetheless. Stopping in front of the school building Etsu let go of Kaed and looked around. "They should be here soon," she muttered and began pacing back and forth to pass the time.

Kaed simply leaned against the wall and watched her friend go back and forth.

A couple minutes passed when two girls came into eyesight, from what Kaed could tell they were waving and started jogging over. As they came closer Kaed began to make out their personal features; one was somewhat taller than the other, closer but still shorter than Kaed herself, the other seemed to be around Etsu's height. The two shared the same slender figures and dark wheat colored hair but there was a startling contrast of their eyes, the taller one had deep brown, nearly black irises and the shorter, a light hazel.

Finished with her initial inspection Kaed turned to Etsu for an explanation. "I'm guessing these are your friends Etsu-san?"

"Yep! I'm Otani Maiya, nice to meet you!" the taller one cheerfully answered while giving a quick and playful wink.

The shorter one simply smiled, "Ueno Hisa, pleased to make your acquaintance."

Returning the smile Kaed got to introducing herself, "Tsuji Kaed, please don't question the missing 'e' it's a long story."

Both of the newly introduced girls simply shrugged off her strange introduction. Etsu seemed quite happy though and was grinning proudly. "Kaed-chan here is the one I was telling you guys about," Etsu boasted teasingly.

Ueno's eyes widened, "So you went to Teiko with the Generation of Miracles?! Are the rumors true then?"

Kaed looked at her blankly, "Rumors? What rumors?"

"You know," Ueno said, "the ones about a phantom sixth man."

As everything clicked together Kaed chuckled, "Ah, that rumor. I suppose you could say there is but you wouldn't understand it until you saw it for yourself."

Maiya seemed confused by her words but nodded slowly, "Okay then, I guess we just have to trust you than. By the way what are the Miracles like? I've heard a lot about their basketball skills, but personally I have no clue."

Coughing into her fist Kaed awkwardly averted her eyes when she responded, "They're, uh, _complex_," she said before turning her head and muttering to herself, "and that's putting it mildly." The mere thought of those strange geniuses made her shiver; Akashi and his bossiness, Murasakibara's obsession with snacks, Midorima's reliance on horoscopes, Aomine's arrogance, Kise's whining, and of course, Kuroko popping out of nowhere.

Maiya and Ueno seemed to sense the other female's discomfort and dropped the subject. "Uh, on another note what clubs are you thinking of joining?" Maiya quickly changed the subject, "I was thinking of joining the tennis team."

"Art club for me," Ueno said and smiled apologetically to Etsu; who looked devastated.

"Ue-chan! How can you just abandon me like that! We were going to do orchestra together!" Etsu wailed, clinging onto a very guilty looking Ueno.

Kaed sighed and pulled the still teary eyed Etsu off of Ueno who was looking quite grateful. "Etsu-san, stop crying classes are starting soon," she said and lightly flicked the brown-eyed girl on the forehead. As Etsu calmed down attention was turned back to Kaed who had yet to reveal what club she was joining. Realizing this she just shrugged and said, "Tennis or basketball, either way I already know I'll probably just be second string."

"You really don't think you can make first string?" Maiya questioned, just from seeing her she could tell that Kaed was athletic so it seemed strange that she would resign herself to second string before even trying out.

"Just trust me," Kaed said, "it's going to happen."

This garnered her some strange looks from Maiya and Ueno but the uncomfortable atmosphere was sharply broken by the wave of students trying to get to class on time. Getting swept up in the sea of people the quartet was broken up and they ended up joining the rush of the first day.

* * *

"Together again!" the blond chirped happily from his spot next to Kaed. The both of them (yet again) had the same class. Due to their heights they had both agreed to sit in the back, which also worked out to avoid most stares, directed mostly to the model.

"So it seems," Kaed said bored, holding her head up with her palm.

Kise pouted at his friend's lack of enthusiasm, "You could at least pretend to be happy Tsujicchi!" By now he should have been used to the girl's disinterest, he didn't know exactly when or why, but she had started becoming more and more apathetic to things. It was strange, if one went back to her second year of middle school and put her in this situation she would have rolled her eyes and told him that just because she doesn't look happy doesn't mean she wasn't happy. Or something like that. Kaed snapping her fingers in front of his face brought Kise out of the daze he didn't remember entering. Smiling sheepishly Kise offered an apology, "Sorry about spacing out of you-ssu. So where were we again?"

"We weren't _anywhere_," Kaed stressed, "besides class is starting. If you don't even try to pay attention I won't help you when you fall behind."

Grumbling to himself the copycat sunk down in his seat and directed his sight to the teacher. Even if his eyes were on the teacher it didn't mean his mind was. Kise was currently pondering the state of the girl next to him. As he looked out the window and saw the clear blue sky, everything clicked. She was bummed about Kurokocchi not being here! Kise couldn't blame her, he was missing his old mentor as well. It was then he decided; the next chance he got he was visiting Kurokocchi!

Oh Kise if only you knew that Kuroko most definitely didn't have the same feeling about you.

* * *

**A/N: If anyone knows the specific class Kise is in I would really appreciate it if you could tell me. Also as we start getting into the episodes the chapters should get longer. Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Break 2: New and Old**

* * *

_Progression is a strange thing. One usually stays to their roots but builds up on it. In doing so wouldn't you get farther and farther away from them?_

* * *

"So this is Seirin," Kise said studying the school in front of him, "As expected of a new school, it's nice and clean." The girl next to him however seemed less than interested.

"Kise, stop admiring the architecture and let's find the gym. You're drawing too much attention," Kaed stated blandly, noting the whispers from the girls around them. It was enough that their Kaijou uniforms stood out; but Kise being, well _Kise_ only helped to draw odd glances towards the duo. She honestly was wondering why she agreed to come with Kise, agreeing to anything the model suggested usually led to a headache. But Kuroko was here, so she supposed that made up for it.

An apologetic smile was sent Kaed's way, "Eh~ sorry Tsujicchi, but I guess you're right. The faster we find the gym the faster we can see Kurokocchi!" Kise hummed happily. Just the thought of seeing Kuroko again put the blond in a good mood. Briefly, he wondered if Seirin's basketball team was any good, or if they had gotten used the phantom man's weak presence yet. Probably not, remembering his own first encounter with him put a smile on Kise's face.

Seeing the slightly dopey grin on Kise's face Kaed pinched the bridge of her nose. The model had entered la-la-land once again. Sighing, she tugged the blond along in their search for the gym.

* * *

"A practice match against Kaijou High?"

Riko nodded in a positive, "Yup! They'll be a good opponent and we can use all the freshmen too!"

Koganei looked at her skeptically, "You don't think they'll be too much for us?"

"Are they strong?" one of the freshmen asked.

"They're a national class school that takes part in the Inter-High every year," Hyuuga clarified. Needless to say the freshmen's faces were that of utter shock. Turning back to Riko, he questioned, "Coach, were you serious about what you said last time?"

Kagami looked lost, "What are they talking about?" he asked to no one in particular.

Izuki seemed mildly surprised, "Ah, Kagami, you didn't know?"

"This year Kaijou managed to acquire one of the Generation of Miracles, Kise Ryouta," Riko said. Sounds of surprise came from around the gym. Kagami on the other hand was getting pumped up at the notion of going against one of Japan's best players so soon.

"On top of basketball he also apparently works as a model," Hyuuga said offhandedly.

"Amazing," Izuki said, awed.

"He looks good and is great at basketball?! That's harsh!" Koganei blurted out.

As the team was pretty much singing praises about their next opponent Riko turned curiously to where a buzz of noise had appeared. Seeing nearly all of Seirin's female population she jerked in surprise. Catching the attention of the team they also turned to look and were understandably confused. "Wh-what are all these people doing here?!"

"Uh, I didn't mean for this to happen," the epicenter of attention said.

"I _told _you that you were drawing too much attention," a girl off to the side grumbled, shaking her head.

At the same time the same question was running through the Seirin team's minds. Just what was one of the Generation of Miracles doing here?

Breaking his silence, Kuroko looked to where Kise was, "It's been a while," he said simply subtly addressing the girl from Kaijou as well.

Kise smiled, "Long time no see," scratching the back of his head his expression turned sheepish, "Sorry, really, um, do you think you can wait five minutes?"

* * *

"Done," Kise said slipping down from his seat.

"Wh-why are you here?" Hyuuga asked, still in a mild state of shock.

Striding forward Kise replied confidently, "Well, when I heard our next opponent was Seirin I remembered that Kurokocchi went here. So I thought I would come say hi. We were the best of friends in middle school," the last part was directed to Kuroko.

"Not any more than anyone else," Kuroko deadpanned.

"So mean!" Kise whined as he started tearing up comically.

Furihata then began reading from one of the articles in the magazine he held, "Kise Ryouta, even though he only started in his second year of middle school his exceptional ability got him a starting position in Teiko in the blink of an eye. Though lacking the experience of the other four he is a rapidly improving all-rounder."

"Since your second year?!" Hyuuga exclaimed in disbelief.

The copycat rubbed the back of his neck, "Well that article exaggerated quite a lot. I'm proud to be called one of the Generation of Miracles, but I'm the worst of them. They bullied Kurokocchi and I about it back in middle school."

"That never happened to me," Kuroko stated plainly, expression blank as ever.

"That was just me than?!" Kise cried, tearing up yet again. Swiftly he suddenly twisted and caught the basketball harshly thrown his way. "Ow! What was that for?" Kise said dropping the ball and shaking his hand out.

"Kagami!" the whole of Seirin exclaimed.

"Sorry to interrupt your little reunion. But you couldn't have just come for a greeting," Kagami said, eyes locked in challenge. "So how about being my opponent pretty boy?"

"Eh? But I don't think I'm ready," Kise put a hand to his chin in thought, "But I, hmm, fine let's do it. Thanks for that display."

"Unbelievable," Riko muttered as she watched Kagami and Kise prepare for their one-on-one.

"This could get bad," Kuroko said, once again making Riko jolt in surprise.

The two boys faced each other and simply studied the other's movements before Kise made his move. Much to Seirin's surprise he pulled the same technique Kagami had used just minutes before. Getting over the initial shock Kagami attempted to block Kise; only to fail and fall back with Kise standing over him.

"So this is the Generation of Miracles," Kawahara said in awe, "Kuroko, your friend is way too good."

"I don't know that person," Kuroko said, "To be honest I might have underestimated them up until this point. Even if it's only been a few months, the Generation of Miracles have improved far more quickly than I imagined."

Kise shook his head, "After something so disappointing I can't just leave," he began making his way over to where the others had been spectating, "So please give me Kurokocchi. Come join our school. Let's play basketball together again." Everyone's eyes widened at the sudden proposal. "I seriously respect you Kurokocchi! It's a waste of your talent to stay here, so what do you say?"

Kuroko kept his expression neutral, "I'm honored you think of me like that. But I must humbly refuse your proposal."

"This isn't like you! Wasn't winning everything? Why didn't you go to a stronger school?" Kise rapidly questioned.

"My way of thinking has changed since then," Kuroko said, "more importantly I made a promise with Kagami-kun. A promise to defeat the Generation of Miracles."

Kise frowned, "Now this really isn't like you to joke around like this."

A laugh was heard from behind Kise. The Generation of Miracles really were something weren't they? And there were still four stronger guys. A smile split Kagami's face at the thought of it. "Don't go stealing my lines Kuroko."

"The fact I have no sense of humor hasn't changed. I'm serious," Kuroko said. Kise smirked slightly, things just got interesting.

"You should have seen this coming Kise," a voice came from the side as the brunette girl made her presence known.

"Where did you come from?!" Kagami exclaimed, "Don't tell me we have another Kuroko here."

Kise turned to Kaed and smiled slightly, "Ah, sorry I got so caught up that I forgot I brought you with me."

Koganei blinked in confusion, "Who is she anyway?"

"Tsuji Kaed, I'm an old classmate of Kuroko's," Kaed said simply, "And no, I actually don't have a weak presence, everyone was just focusing on Kise so you missed me," a twitchy smile appeared on her face, "_and_ Kagami-san almost hit me with that basketball! You people have no perception."

"Oh," Kagami looked away, "sorry about that."

"So you ended up going to Kaijou?" Kuroko asked, once again appearing out of the blue.

Kaed jumped slightly since Kuroko had pretty much popped up right next to her. Even after four years she still wasn't completely used to it. "More like dragged," she said glaring accusingly at Kise. "If it wasn't for him I'd probably be here, or in Kyoto." It was true, Kaed had originally planned on going to Seirin with the phantom man but Kise seemed to have a different idea. That and Etsu joining in on the puppy-dog eyes guilt trip. Kaed shivered, what those two could do with big moist eyes. . .

"Don't look at me like that!" Kise cried, he never did like being on the receiving end of his companion's glares. She always seemed to be able to make it feel like she was staring straight through you.

Adjusting her ponytail, Kaed turned back to Kuroko, "I see you've found an interesting partner Kuroko," she said, switching her attention to Kagami she observed him as she hummed in thought, "I can see why Kuroko-kun has made you his light. You have a lot of potential."

Kagami regarded the girl warily. She seemed trustworthy enough, but she _was_ with Kise. Instead of replying like he would normally do he decided to stay silent. Something in his gut told him the more he gave the girl to work with the more she would scrutinize him.

Kaed then smiled slightly to Kuroko, "Well it was nice seeing you again but we'd best be off," redirecting herself to Riko she spoke again, "I'm really very sorry for cutting in on your practice," now turning to Kise she narrowed her eyes, "And you, c'mon we need to leave before any of your other fangirls catch wind of you being in Tokyo. I personally would like to get back to Kanagawa before sunset." With that Kaed nabbed Kise by the ear and began dragging the (whining and teary) blond out of the exit.

The Seirin basketball team just stared in silence as the odd duo faded out of sight. "So," Izuki broke the silence, "that was one of the Generation of Miracles. And who exactly was that girl with him? She didn't say very much."

Kuroko nodded, "Tsuji-san really isn't one for idle talk."

"How does she know you and the Generation of Miracles anyway?" Kagami asked, "She seemed to know you pretty well."

"She's an old classmate from Teiko," Kuroko stated, "She ended up helping out the basketball club after she got kicked out of the newspaper club."

Riko raised an eyebrow, "After she got kicked out? What did she do?"

Face stoic as ever Kuroko replied, "I can't say any details but it was mostly Kise-kun's fault."

* * *

**A/N: And end on a slight cliffhanger. I'm sorry that this chapter was just exposition and all that. Originally I was going to have Kaed in more of it but that would have interrupted the flow and I thought it might be kind of funny to have her pull a Kuroko. The next chapter should have a little more insight to the OCs and their roles as it's just going to be the end of the Seirin-Kaijou practice match from the canon. And hopefully I can get the plot going.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Break 3: The Unseen**

* * *

_The least obvious can have the most impact. Subtle but there, these things are taken for granted, thus going unnoticed._

* * *

"Hurry up! If we don't get there we're not going to get a good view!" Etsu declared as she pulled both Maiya and Ueno by the arms to Kaijou's gym to watch the Seirin-Kaijou practice game. Predictably, she was getting a lot of weird looks from the other students, but then again weird things had become increasingly common. Kaed merely watched from the side as she kept a brisk pace alongside the other three. As they neared the gym the sounds of squealing and cheering got progressively louder. At the entrance they were met with the sight of a _huge_ crowd of girls.

"Kise must be playing," Kaed concluded as she observed the many, many female Kaijou students. "We aren't getting through that crowd very easily."

Etsu crossed her arms stubbornly, "They already started then?! We will do it! Charge!" she yelled out determined, dragging the two unfortunate other females with her Etsu began barreling through the crowd, which parted like the Red Sea with Etsu charging forward like a mad woman. Kaed just followed behind as the ranks quickly closed behind her. Managing to work their way to the front they were just in time to see Kise waving and smiling. . .

And promptly being kicked by Kasamatsu. "Ouch! I'm sorrrrrry!" Kise cried out from underneath his captain's foot.

"I'll hit you!" Kasamatsu said, obviously annoyed.

"You already did. . .," the blond said feebly as he got to his feet, wincing in pain.

Kasamatsu gave him no sympathy, "Did you even understand the situation Kise? Since they introduced themselves that way, we should return the favor."

Maiya looked confused, "What are they talking about?" She turned to her three other companions, two out of the three seemingly almost as confused as her. Kaed looked indifferent to it, this was how it always was.

"They must have been quite surprised to see both Kuroko and Kagami's ability," Kaed said, eyes glued onto the court. "Just watch and you'll see what I mean."

Kaijou quickly retaliated (and Kise was kicked yet again). The game quickly became high-paced and offensive. Point after point was scored by both teams, as it went on things were starting to decline. Seirin called for a time-out and Ueno decided to voice what had been running through her head the entire time. "What, exactly is going on? Those passes seem to come from nowhere."

Casting a quick glance to the teams on the bench Kaed then answered her question, "It's actually a lot simpler than one might think," this immediately caught Ueno and Maiya's attention. Etsu simply smiled, she already knew the basics of it. "Kuroko-kun, the one performing the passes and the one seemingly disappearing and reappearing, just has a low presence. That and his use of misdirection makes it look like magic."

"Misdirection?" Maiya asked, confused. She wasn't an expert on techniques or basketball, so she was pretty much lost the whole way through.

"Misdirection is something magicians use a lot," Kaed explained, "In other words it is simply a person directing someone's attention to something other than themselves. Humans can only comprehend so much at one time if your focus wavers for even a moment you can miss something, in this case Kuroko-kun."

Ueno nodded in understanding, "I see, it seems pretty effective to me."

"Effective but not as efficient as it should be, it's effectiveness wears off as the game goes on since they get used to it," the taller brunette said, "Just watch the game, it makes a lot more sense when you see it for yourself."

* * *

"I can't believe Seirin ended up winning," Maiya said in a hushed tone, still in a state of disbelief. The match had ended a while ago in Seirin's favor. The girls were now simply wandering around the town to kill time. "That misdirection is no joke."

"Say," Etsu mused, "Kaed-chan, why didn't you stay afterwards? I would have expected you to at least talk to either Kuroko-san or Kise-san."

A thoughtful expression crossed Kaed's face, "I didn't feel like it was a good time for that. I'll probably check in on them later though." For good reason too, she had an inkling of an idea that Kise would want a one-on-one talk with Kuroko.

"Oi! Stop that man!" a high pitched voice screeched from behind the quartet. Maiya, Ueno, and Etsu all paused before stopping short and turning just in time to see a dark clothed man rushing right towards them. The three of them all leapt to the side to avoid collision; Kaed on the other hand swiftly swept her leg out, effectively tripping the man causing him to fall flat on his face. Leaning down, Kaed gingerly picked up the fallen purse, she assumed the man had stolen. Several other witnesses had already called the authorities. Deciding to leave the man to them the four teens turned to where the warning screech had come from. And they all scowled when they recognized the confident (or condescending) face.

"Isobe-san," Kaed spoke curtly, "I'm assuming this is yours?" She tossed the small handbag to the hazel eyed girl across from her. Catching it, she simply nodded as the only thanks she would get.

"Humph, at least it's not muddy," the victim of the snatching said, the other girl besides her (presumably the 'lackey' of the day) nodding in agreement. Isobe Ume; if every school had someone on top of the social food chain she was Kaijou's undisputed female ruler. Even though she was only a first-year, news about her had spread like a wildfire due to her long plum colored hair and mesmerizing hazel eyes, or so the gossip said. At first glance she seemed like a stereo-typical queen bee, but if one looked harder she actually wasn't _that_ bad of a person (not counting her very patronizing personality), and she had the volleyball skills to make up for it. Honestly, both Etsu and Kaed had agreed that the second in command (who had gone to Teiko) was _much_ worse.

The air was tense in the group, they had never gotten along very well at school and not much had changed even off campus. "So what did you think of the game?" Maiya was the one to break the silence that had overtaken the group, sure they weren't on very good terms but it was best to try and keep things semi-neutral.

Ume shot them a disdainful look. Were these nobodies even worth her time? Deciding to at least be polite about it she graced them with an answer, "I honestly think that Kaijou should have won," she a slight frown decorated her face as she declined into a small whine, "I mean we have Kise-kun just that should have guaranteed a win against a no name school like Seirin. Those two freshmen pretty much ruined it, they weren't even cute!" Now it had turned into a full on complaint. It was actually quite surprising to Ueno and Maiya who had gone to middle school with her. The Ume they remembered would have ridiculed their abilities and personalities, not their looks. She was changing, they noted, and not for the better.

Both Kaed and Etsu were now tuning out the conversation as they waited for Ume to stop. It somehow managed to go on until evening and the sun started to disappear below the horizon. Everyone (being the original quartet) was suddenly snapped out of their daze when Kaed's phone buzzed, signaling a message. "It's from Kise," she said, at the mention of the model's name both Ume and the other girl who kept parroting her were curious. "Ah, Kuroko-kun is alright, that's good."

"And?" the other girls all prompted her. Anyone who even mildly knew Kise would know that he wouldn't _just_ message about that.

"Why are you guys even interested?" Kaed asked kind of disturbed, "These are my messages you know."

Etsu shrugged, "It doesn't matter Kaed-chan, we all know it's probably not that personal. I don't think Kise-san'll mind if you told us."

"Fine," Kaed relented; there was no way she was getting out of this one. If worst came to worst they would all gang up on her. "All he said was that he wanted to meet up tomorrow, and no not just for personal reasons," she cleared up, not wanting to let any other implications slip.

"Boring," Etsu said, "so can Mai-chan, Ue-chan, and I tag along? You did agree to introduce them." At this Ume and her lackey were looking quite jealous and promptly stormed off. It didn't really matter however as no one even was paying attention to them anymore. Ueno and Maiya, were both excited at the notion of actually meeting _the_ Kise Ryouta and a bit nervous as well.

Kaed's eye twitched as she remembered their 'agreement', "I never agreed to that, you just volunteered me," she muttered, she was going to decline but seeing their hopeful faces, Kaed sighed, irritated, but she wasn't one to just crush people's hopes (unless she _wanted_ to that is). "I'll see what I can do," she said. This caused Maiya and Etsu to cheer and drag the more unwilling Kaed and Ueno into their small celebration.

* * *

**A/N: I couldn't fit as much as I wanted to in but next chapter should have more OC insight and personality. Oh yeah and crack. I suppose you can think of next chapter as my filler, which will be in a slightly different style as I'll be switching back to my usual humorous third-person instead.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Break 4: A Day in the Life**

* * *

_Your friends can bring out the best and worst in you. . .and other people._

* * *

Two teens were a blur of dark brown and blond as they dashed down the street. It was times like these that they were thankful for their athleticism. The shrieks and squeals seemed get closer and closer, and louder as more people ended up joining in on the hoard. And as reminiscent of a zombie apocalypse it isn't; no it was something _much_ worse, well at least for the two chased students it was.

As the two of them made a quick turn Kise was _really_ starting to curse his publicity. Yes, you heard right, _Kise_ (the attention seeking one) was _cursing_ his _publicity_. End of the world? Quite possibly actually, wait, there is a perfect name for this situation right now! The Fangirl apocalypse, bane of all good looking and talented males everywhere; and now the blond basketball player's current situation. And no, not the nice, _sane_ fans either; the insane yandere-I-will-kill-you-if-you-steal-him-types.

The female part of the duo, seeing a chance to escape, grabbed Kise by the arm and turned into an alleyway and jumped in the large (thankfully empty) dumpster; taking Kise with her.

"Tsujicchi! Why did you do that? Now we're going to stink," Kise whined quietly, not wanting to give away their location.

"Be quiet Kise," Kaed said sharply, "we already lost Etsu-san, Otani, and Ueno. So just shut up and let's wait it out."

Kise pouted but complied. For now this was the best course of action, as much as he loved his fans this was taking it _way_ too far. If any of you are wondering how this happened we'll have to turn back the clock to the morning of that day.

* * *

Both Kise and Kaed were walking side by side down the streets of Kanagawa. The two of them had met earlier and were on their way to meet with the other girls. "I had a nice talk with Kurokocchi~," Kise started up the conversation, "and we even played basketball together! Though Kagamicchi was there too," he pouted at the thought. Honestly, what did a guy have to do to get some bonding time with his old mentor?

Kaed shook her head at her companion's childish behavior, "Well at least you managed to talk right? And Kagamicchi?"

Nodding, Kise had an easy-going smile plastered on his face, "Yup~! After he beat me I had to acknowledge his ability," turning to face the girl, he leaned in slightly, the barest hint of mischief evident in his eyes, "So, Tsujicchi what are your friends I'm supposed to be meeting like?"

Shrugging off Kise's attitude change, Kaed simply continued walking, "I can't say very much since I only met them recently," she replied, "but you won't have to worry about them trying to get your D.N.A or kidnapping you."

Kise shivered as he recalled one particular incident from middle school. He didn't know that cookies could be so dangerous! "Ahh, that's a relief. But I don't have to worry about that would I-ssu? You'd help me wouldn't you Tsujicchi? We are best friends~!" Kise's grin was back on his features once again.

Kaed raised an eyebrow in question, "What gave you that idea?" she replied bluntly. Since when was she Kise's best friend? She never remembered considering the guy her best friend.

"So mean~!" Kise's happy gait faltered at her cold answer. "Don't tell me that Kurokocchi has been rubbing off on you-ssu!" At this moment all of Kise's thoughts of their relationship went out the window.

"Oh look, we're here," the taller girl said, completely ignoring the whiny model. The group had agreed on meeting at one of the park's many tables. Much to their luck the table they had picked had been empty and close to the entrance. Maiya, Etsu, and Ueno had already arrived and started waving the two over. Kaed began jogging over to them, leaving Kise (who was still feeling rejected) to try and catch up.

"Kaed-chan! Kise-san! Over here!" Etsu was jumping and waving. Getting into their vicinity Etsu stopped jumping and tugged the wheat haired girls from their hiding spots under the table. "Mai-chan, Ue-chan," she pouted, "you can't just hide under there all day. Weren't you the ones who wanted to meet him?"

"B-but," Ueno's voice was barely above a whisper a light blush adorning her cheeks. "He's _the_ Kise Ryouta, what if he doesn't like us?"

"Wouldn't like who?" was Kise's clueless comment. He had recovered from his initial spurt of sadness and was back to his chipper self.

"Kyaaaa!" all three of the girls screeched, not exactly aware of Kise and Kaed sneaking up behind them. Sort of recovering their senses Etsu let out a calming breath and Maiya hesitantly got up from under the table, Ueno was still hiding.

Kise smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck, "Sorry about that, I didn't mean to surprise you-ssu."

"It's fine," Maiya said trying to contain her excitement. She was talking, _talking_ to Kise Ryouta. Oh how she would love to rub that in the faces of her enemies. "Really, we should have noticed you guys come up."

Tilting her head to get a better look Kaed regarded Ueno and Etsu oddly, "What are you guys even doing?" Etsu had gone back to her attempts at pulling Ueno from her hiding spot, Ueno was stubbornly not budging. Sighing, Kaed lent a hand to Etsu and successfully achieved getting Ueno out from under the table. Once she was out Ueno refused to look directly at Kise, much to his confusion.

Deciding to just sit at the table the five person group arranged themselves properly. Kaed and Kise were on one side of the rectangular table and Maiya, Etsu, and (a refusing to make eye-contact) Ueno on the other side. After doing so an uncomfortable silence overtook them as no one had wanted to start anything. Trying to rid the air of the awkward atmosphere Kise tried starting up a conversation, "So, I'm Kise Ryouta. And you are?"

"Oh! I'm Otani Maiya, nice to meet you," Maiya said, faintly stiff. The usually chatty girl had pretty much fallen silent in the blonde's presence; so this was the feeling of being star-struck. Sure it was her first time so close to Kise but he seemed nice enough. So why was it she still felt threatened? Oh yeah, it was probably the voice in the back of her head telling her that his over obsessed fangirls might try and maul her! Yeah, that was it.

All eyes were now on (the still blushing) Ueno. Noticing everyone's gazes were now on her she let out a small squeak. "E-eh! I-I am Ueno Hisa!" was all she got out before burying her face in her hands. Gosh, she just made a fool out of herself in front of her friends and Kise! Poor Kise was quite oblivious to the effect he had on them and was a little sad that they weren't talking very much.

"So," Etsu began, taking matters into her own hands now, "Kise-san I heard that you met up with Kuroko-san before the match. What happened there? People were saying you were quite upset."

Kise froze at the memory. And then he promptly started crying into Kaed's shoulder. "Whaaaaaaah! Kurokocchi dumped me-ssu!" he wailed, "Even after I told him how I was crying to my pillow every night after he rejected meeeeeee~! He dumped me Tsujicchi! Dumped me!" At this point the blond was quite far-gone and clinging onto the half-exasperated and half-used to this already Kaed like a life-line. Ueno and Maiya were quickly snapped out of their star-struck dazes as they witnessed the childish and bullied part of Kise. Etsu just smiled guiltily at what she had caused.

Sighing, Kaed slapped a hand to her forehead and tried to get Kise to stop his whining, "Kise, stop being such a drama queen. You sound like a girl who just broke up with her boyfriend." This managed to stop his wails but did nothing to bar him from sniffling and rambling about how mean the Generation of Miracles was to him.

"Tsujicchi," Kise sniffled, "you wouldn't do that to me would you-ssu?" His honey colored eyes were only enhanced by the tears in them. Kaed never stood a chance and just nodded in defeat. She made a mental note to try and build up her immunity to the kicked puppy-dog eyes again.

"Hey!" a voice cut in from the side where several girls were standing, looking none too pleased. The girl at the head (whose face was caked in make-up the group noted), stormed up to them. "Just who do you little promiscuous girls think you're doing with Kise-sama?!" she shrieked, obviously angered. And flanked by some other girls who all were agreeing.

Our original quintet all looked at each other and blinked in confusion. Well, this was strange. "What?"

"I know you heard me! Just what are you trying to pull with our Kise-sama?!" the girl once again squawked in annoyance.

Figuring by the "Kise-sama" that these girls were fans aforementioned model tried to play peace-maker, "I think this is all a big misunderstanding-ssu. These girls are my friends you see-," he was cut off by squeaks of rage from the other girls.

"They brainwashed him!" was the conclusion come upon one of the other females in the crowd, "Get them!"

"E-eh?! Hang on-! Ahhhhhhhh!" In order to avoid the possibly lethal results of being caught by the maybe mentally unstable or influenced girls the quintet all took off running in different directions.

This brings us to our hero's current predicament in an empty dumpster. As they heard the large group rush past the alley they were in Kise peeped out of the top and sighed in relief. They were gone.

The duo had the same thing in mind as they locked eyes. Words were not needed as they exchanged genuine smiles. It was a mutual understanding that allowed them to communicate with nothing but a smile or eye-roll. Strange how such a sense of déjà vu could come over two people hiding in an empty dumpster that was so resonant to that of a certain place in the woods.

* * *

**A/N: That humor sure went to mild fluff really quickly. As you can see Ueno's actually pretty shy and Etsu isn't the sharpest tool in the shed. I really enjoyed writing Rejected!Kise. I got the idea from the reading somewhere that Kise refers to Kuroko's refusal to go with him as "Kurokocchi dumped me."**


	6. Chapter 6

**Break 5: The First Step**

* * *

"_A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,"_

_-Laozi (604 bc-531 bc)_

* * *

May 17th; the day before the preliminaries, practices had been long and hard as the tension and excitement began arising. In more ways than one for Kaijou's first years.

"We have to what?!" Class 1-B's exclamation was heard throughout the school in unison with the other first year classes. It was quite understandable considering the news that had just been delivered by their homeroom teachers.

Tanimatsu Akina was the young and energetic homeroom and Literature teacher of Kaijou's first years. As usually kind and adaptable as she was, the glasses wearing woman still couldn't help but feel a little guilty for pushing this onto her students. "I really am very sorry for the short notice but it was only recently decided."

"How can they expect us to agree to this!?" one of the male students cried out.

"Yeah! We already have club activities we need to dedicate ourselves to!" a female student protested.

Tanimatsu was at a loss, the poor teacher didn't know what to tell them, "I'm very sorry but there's nothing I can do as of now. All the dealings have to be taken to the Drama Club's president. He was very, ah, _determined_ that he be completely in charge."

"But Tanimatsu-sensei the Inter-High Preliminaries start _tomorrow!" _ Kise sobbed at the thought of how to break the news to his teammates. He foresaw many kicks to the back in his future. How was he supposed to squeeze in that extra practice _and_ his photo-shoots if he was forced into helping the Drama Club put on a play?

The class was set into an uproar as the students became increasingly irate about the notion of being forced into helping another club when they all had other priorities. Getting quite annoyed by commotion Kaed slammed her hand down on her desk, effectively shutting everyone up and stood. "I'll go talk to this crazy president of whatever after school and try and change the moron's mind so just shut up and let Tanimatsu-sensei do her job!" The class was quite shocked at the normally calm and quiet girl's declaration and the yells died down as Kaed fell back into her seat.

"Thank you Tsuji-chan," Tanimatsu said, smiling gently. It was nice to have a reasonable person in class.

* * *

The usual first-year female quartet was unnaturally silent due to a single pink envelope in Ueno's hand. She had found it in her locker after school and hadn't even opened it yet, deciding it was best to ask her friend's about it first. Maiya and Etsu seemed giddy and were grinning like maniacs, while Kaed didn't seem any different (maybe a little impatient to get to 'convincing' the Drama Club president to let at least some students off the hook), other than a foreign spark in her eyes that had Ueno worried.

"Aww~, our little Ue-chan is growing up," Etsu cooed, dabbing her eyes in a mock crying of happiness. The dark haired girl was very proud of her little Ue-chan at the moment, she had known it would have happened eventually as the shorter girl was quite cute to most high-school boys. "You got your first love letter! I remember my first one back in middle school-," she continued her long wordy recollection of her experiences with love letters.

"Love letter?!" Ueno squeaked in surprise, the girl definitely had no idea anyone was admiring her. She was so quiet usually for goodness sakes!

Maiya was practically bouncing up and down, "Open it! Open it!" she encouraged, "Let's see what it says!"

"Erm, okay," Ueno said, opening up the envelope and unfolding the letter as she began reading, "_To my dearest artist, I know that this might come as a shock to you but ever since I laid eyes on you I knew you were the one. Your majestic artistry and the magnificent conveyance of your emotions in your paintings spoke to me in ways I could have never imagined! I know it's sudden but please grace me with your presences today! I will await your answer in classroom 3-G. Love, your greatest admirer." _If it was possible for Ueno to get any more red she would have literally burst into flames. Her friends were all grinning cheekily as Kaed noted something.

As she racked her brain trying to recall what classroom 3-G was, it suddenly hit her like a ton of bricks. "Class 3-G is the Drama Club's room!"

"Really?" Etsu asked, "Well in that case," she slung an arm around Ueno's shoulders, "it looks like we're coming with you to meet your admirer."

Ueno appeared comforted by the fact that her friends were coming with her. There was no way she would have been able to do this alone without passing out or running out on the admirer.

Standing in front of class 3-G the girls were fairly bewildered at what they saw. The doors were decorated ornately with intricate designs painted on the wood and were bordered by vines and flowers. "Are you sure we're in the right place?" Maiya inquired weakly.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Kaed said, brushing the leaves away from the copper plate that clearly read **3-G. **Even if the plate read the correct room she was still doubtful due to the décor.

"Only one way to tell for sure," Etsu said, and slid open the door. The sight that greeted them seemed normal at first, just an older looking boy with russet colored hair doing some paperwork. But the moment he saw Ueno his almond irises began sparkling as he shot through the air to land in front of a blushing Ueno on one knee, taking her hand causing the other three girls to quirk eyebrows at the strange boy.

Practically radiating sunshine and happiness the boy gave Kise a run for his money in that department. "You came!" he cried out obviously very pleased. Getting up from his kneeling position he made an elegant bow, "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Nakayama Kiyohide, third-year and the current president of the Drama Club."

There was a period of stunned silence before, "Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!" the quartet shouted.

"Er, Nakayama-senpai you're the president of the Drama Club?" Ueno asked tentatively, a bit taken aback by the male's forward attitude.

"Just Kiyo is fine," Kiyo said, nodding to the other three girls in the room as well. His gaze quickly went from firm to dazed as he smiled dreamily at Ueno, "After all my future wife can't be calling me –senpai!"

"Wife?!" Was the exclamation of all the girls. This guy really had some high hopes didn't he?

Completely disregarding their shock he continued as he clasped his hands around a very uncomfortable Ueno, "We were destined to meet! You're paintings told me of your deepest emotions and longing to be noticed," he locked eyes with her and dramatically sighed, "Alas, you're miseries would go unnoticed by the one you dreamed of! So I will fix you're shattered hear to its whole!"

Kaed's mouth twitched as she witnessed Ueno be courted and the other two practically in tears at Kiyo's emotion. "This guy," she started, "is worse than Kise." At the sound of the model's name Kiyo halted his confessions and a dark aura surrounded him.

Clenching his fist Kiyo began his eloquent rant about Kise, "So that arrogant ass is my rival? I shall not fall to such a weak person. You may have stolen my spotlight and fans Kise Ryouta, but you will not steal the heart of the woman I love!" The blustery winds could almost be seen behind him, his emotion was so put out. Kaed set her mouth in an awkward half open position as she observed the scene in front of her. That dramatic moron completely misinterpreted her words!

The moment was promptly ruined by the door sliding open to reveal an ignorant Kise. Blinking, he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, "Uh, is this the Drama Club room?"

"You!" Kiyo yelled out.

Kise glanced around before pointing to himself, "Me?"

Kiyo's eye twitched in annoyance, "Yes, you! You pretty boy fool! What are you here for? To steal my dear Ueno-hime perhaps?"

The model looked at him curiously, "No? I'm just here to ask about you forcing all the first-years to help with the Drama Club."

Not looking completely convinced Kiyo sat back down at his desk and cast his gaze around the room before asking irritated, "Well?"

"Oh! Yeah, we needed to see if you could pardon the students that have a lot going on already," Kise said, "Like I have basketball and my modeling job so I can't really squeeze in the extra time to help."

Kiyo sniffed haughtily, "You're not the only busy one. I have to run this club and juggle finding a college and working at the theater. There is a reason we're doing this you know. The Drama Club is currently going through a major recruitment crisis. We used to be a popular club until _you_ came along," he sneered.

"How so?" Kise asked totally lost. How did he affect the Drama Club? He hadn't had any contact with them at all.

"Once people learned you were joining the Basketball Club almost half of our potential members switched!" Kiyo yelled out.

"It's not his fault though!" Ueno spoke out. Sure Kiyo had his reasons but it was no good to just blame everything on Kise. Besides she _did_ have that tiny-little-itsy-bitsy-miniscule crush on him.

Kiyo looked at her, hurt that she was standing up for his (self-proclaimed) rival, deciding to be the bigger man he set his jaw, "Fine, I'll let them off on a few conditions," this caught the group's interest quickly, "First off only those with plausible reason will be pardoned, second Ueno-hime has to participate in the play," Ueno's eyes bugged out at the thought of being on stage, "and finally," he set his hard stare on Kise, "Kise-kun must participate as my rival and competitor. We will decide who can court Ueno-hime over this course of time. Loser must back off completely."

Kise's jaw dropped, "Wait one moment! I never said that I was trying to court Ueno! We're just friends!"

Kaed quickly stomped on his foot to keep him quiet, "We agree to your terms," she said. Her friends looked incredulous but she gave them a glare that said, "This is the best bet we have so don't screw up."

The group all complied and quickly ran out of the room afterwards. Kiyo's murderous aura still directed to the hapless Kise.

* * *

Light was fading by the time Kaed had gotten off the train to Tokyo. It was late, but she had figured Kuroko wouldn't mind. Upon seeing a burger joint she smiled and went inside. She quickly made her way over to the large red haired boy near the window. "Hey," was all she said to get his attention.

Kagami had been peacefully enjoying one of his many burgers when a voice and come out of nowhere (much like the teal haired boy across from him) and he choked slightly in surprise. "Wha-?"

Kuroko looked up from his vanilla milkshake, face blank and greeted the girl, "Hello Tsuji-san, what brings you here?"

The brunette girl stole a chair from one of the empty tables and sat herself down, "Not much, I just figured I would come and wish you luck in the preliminaries. After all the next time you face us will be in the Inter-High, so you better not lose before then."

Gulping down the last of his food Kagami grinned menacingly, "We won't lose. So you can tell that pretty boy to look forward to another defeat."

"I like that spunk," Kaed said, smirking slightly, "But what makes you think you can win against all the Generation of Miracles? Especially when they're all improving at such a fast pace."

Kagami's eyes flickered, "Then I'll just have to keep improving. Kuroko already told me this so why go over it now?"

"No reason," the auburn eyed girl said, shifting her gaze to the transparent boy she smiled, "I'm assuming you gave him the light-shadow speech then?"

Kuroko simply took a sip of his drink before replying. "Yes, but," his eyes shifted from blank to curious, "what about you?"

"Me?" Kaed feigned ignorance, she definitely didn't expect conversation to swing to her that quickly.

"You know what I'm talking about," Kuroko said in a monotone.

Kaed sighed, "Honestly not much, I still only made second string in the basketball team and I couldn't sign up for the tennis team."

Seirin's ace seemed lost on the topic, "What are you guys talking about?" It really didn't help the boy's case that both Kaed and Kuroko were so vague.

"Tsuji-san here has a unique ability of her own," Kuroko stated plainly.

"Oh?" that caught Kagami's interest. So even _she_ had something unique about her? There wasn't anything blatantly obvious that gave any clues as to what this ability was so he was quite rile up to see what it was.

"Kuroko-kun, I keep telling you it really isn't anything special," Kaed huffed, "You're going to give him the wrong idea." Seeing Kagami's determined gaze she sighed, "There isn't any way out of this is there?" The girl stood and gestured for the two to follow her, "I can't guarantee you'll be able to see or understand it Kagami," Kaed explained, "So I'll tell you ahead of time, this," she paused her walking to look back at him, "it's something so common in everything that it's taken for granted and thus, hardly taken into account when your skills in something are judged."

* * *

**A/N: Yep Kaed has something different about her, any guesses on what it is? There was a small hint last chapter, see if you can pick it out.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Break 6: Twice in a Lifetime**

* * *

_When one looks back on their life, how many times could you count resonant situations? Different time, different people, yet the same feeling of familiarity wash over you._

* * *

As Kaed sat beneath the large maple tree adjacent to the lake she was currently looking out on she let out a content sigh. Time to herself and her thoughts had become a rarity to her recently and the dark brunette was enjoying every moment of the peaceful solitude. Only the wind rustling in the trees was audible to her. No Kise whining to her, no Etsu dragging her around; just an air of serenity. It was the first day of the Preliminaries and Kaed hadn't even bothered to go to the game. The girls' team had no need for her and didn't even think to ask her to come and be on the bench for _their_ games. Her other friend's had all gone to the game to cheer on the team, leaving Kaed to her own devices.

The night before had been an interesting one. Kagami sure did know how to make an impression. His relationship with Kuroko was pretty much a mirror of the one he had with the Generation of Miracle's Ace from what Kaed had gathered. The similarities didn't stop there, that whole night scene had pretty much been a replay of what conspired a mere three years ago, albeit the she had a lesser knowledge of what she attempted to explain.

Just thinking of it made her smile bitterly, the world sure seemed to have a bittersweet taste, something Kaed had grown accustomed to hearing when describing her. She never would have thought she would turn it on something else. Absently, she picked up a smooth stone that had found its way from the lakeshore. A single flick of the wrist sent it hurtling to the lake, hopping along the surface several times before sinking with a small splash. Watching the ripples converge and fade away the auburn eyed girl recollected the events of last night.

* * *

_A deserted street basketball court was their destination. The trio continued walking the lamp-lit pathway until Kaed stopped to pick up a stray basketball from its place in the bushes. Seemingly pleased the girl motioned for the two boys to follow her onto one of the courts. Kuroko sat himself down on one of the benches, observing the two standing with blank eyes. _

_ "Okay Kagami," Kaed spoke dribbling the ball casually, "your goal is simple: Keep me from getting the ball into the hoop." _

_ The much larger male was confused. She was going to pretty much one-on-one him? The girl was only about Kuroko's height and had a similar build, if not slightly more muscled. Plus she had said it herself, she only made second string. This was going to be too easy for him, Kagami briefly wondered if it was some sort of mind game but quickly cast it aside as Kaed didn't seem the type. _

_ "Stop thinking about it and get onto the court already," Kaed said, getting impatient with Kagami's skeptical stare. Snapping out of his thoughts Kagami nodded and positioned himself. _

_ The two started center court, Kaed with the ball. Dribbling briefly in place, Kaed noted her opponent's determined glare and smirked slightly, seeing his gaze shift slightly more to the right, she quickly broke left. Kagami near instantly was moving with her, or so he thought. Faltering slightly when he saw her already in position to shoot as he made a move to block it, she shifted her hand and bounced the ball behind her passing it to the other hand. Twisting to the side Kaed was immediately going for another shot, thrown off by her quick shifts Kagami readjusted his position. As the ball flew from her hands Kagami's eyes widened as it went neatly over his arms and into the hoop behind him, a clean three-pointer. _

_ Kaed regarded him curiously, "So, did you notice anything?" _

_ As Kagami flicked through theories in his head he went for the most obvious one, "You have really good reflexes," he guessed. _

_ The girl nodded in approval, "Very close, much closer than the last person, but not exactly." _

_ "Than what is it?" Kagami was glad that he was close, but if that wasn't it what was it? _

_ "Can't tell you," Kaed stated bluntly, going over to join Kuroko on the bench. _

_ Kagami being quite hot-headed was instantly ticked, "If you're not going to tell me than what was the point of all of that!?" _

_ "That was exactly the point Kagami-kun," it was Kuroko who answered, "Tsuji-san's whole point of doing this was to test you and have you figure it out on your own." _

_ The larger boy's eye twitched, "But she said I was close! Isn't that good enough?"_

_ Kaed shook her head, "Close, but not exact. The answer I'm looking for is related to your answer but quite different," she appeared to ponder something before speaking, "But, come talk to me after you figure it out and I'll teach you something."_

_ "Teach me something?" Kagami was getting more and more confused by the girl's actions as he interacted with her. She was from an opposing school and close to the Generation of Miracles (or so he assumed from the way she, Kuroko, and Kise acted) why would she want to teach him something?_

_ "I think you should trust her Kagami-kun," Kuroko said, garnering a curious look from Kagami, "Tsuji-san might not be a genius, an analyzer, or even someone with obvious great ability or potential, but she knows what she's doing. So if she's offering to help you I think you should take it." _

_ Now with Kuroko's words running through his head he had a little more faith in the girl. Kagami nodded to Kaed, who returned it. "Fine, I'll solve this mystery ability of yours and I'll trust you and Kuroko if you're serious about helping me." _

_ Kaed seemed pleased by his answer, "Good, I look forward to the day when you do. For now I'll have to take my leave though. Take care of yourselves you two," she said walking down the pathway, dark silhouette fading from sight. _

_ Unbeknownst to her, the conversation continued after her departure. As she left Kagami looked down at Kuroko quizzically, "I still don't see why you were so supportive of me getting her help."_

_ "It's because I believe that you'll need it in the future," Kuroko said, noting the annoyed look on his current Light's face he continued, "But I also think Tsuji-san will need it as well."_

_ "Eh?" Kagami was now curious about what Kuroko was going on about. _

_ Head down and eye's shadowed Kuroko spoke again, "It's because, this is the first time in two years that she's willingly offered to help someone. She sees something in you that even I don't quite understand. And," he looked up at Kagami, features serious, "there's something missing from the girl that I met the first-year of middle school."_

* * *

The buzzing of her phone in her pocket brought Kaed out of the slumber she didn't remember falling into. Not bothering to check the caller I.D she took the call and spoke into the phone, "Hello?"

**"TSUJICCHI! How are you? What are you doing? Can I come over-ssu?" ** the loud voice blasted Kaed's ear as she yanked the phone a good arm's length away and hung up.

It took less than thirty seconds for the phone the phone to ring again, sighing , Kaed once again answered, "Yes?" this time she was prepared and held the phone slightly away from her ear.

**"Mou, Tsujicchi, that was really mean! Hanging up on me like that," **Kaed could hear the pout in his voice easily. As Kise was talking normally now she brought the phone back to her ear.

"What do you want Kise?" Kaed asked, not in the mood for any over the phone ramblings. Especially if Kasamatsu wasn't there to kick him for her.

**"AH! Right, so if you're not doing anything else today, can I come over-ssu? We have that test in two days and I won't be able study tomorrow since I'm working and practice is getting harsher. If you don't mind can you help me-ssu?"**

Kaed quickly checked the clock on her phone; 3:48. "Fine, I'm out so I won't be home for another ten minutes or so. Aneue is home though so don't bother waiting outside if you get there before me, she loves you anyway so just let yourself in if she's caught up in one of her dramas or something."

She could hear Kise's laugh on the other end of the line at the mention of her older sister. **"Okay than, thanks Tsujicchi-ssu!"** With that the line went dead, signaling that he had hung up.

The dark brunette got up from her sitting position and stretched. Casting one last glance at the peaceful scenery she turned on her heel to make her way towards home.

* * *

**A/N: I originally planned to make this longer but then figured that it would be best to split them into two. So next chapter should mainly be personal insight plus Kise. Mostly a flashback chapter but it was needed. Again feedback is greatly welcomed. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Break 7: Home is where the Heart is**

* * *

_It is not finding a place to belong; but being a place to belong. Making a place for yourself when the doors are closed and locked._

* * *

Kaed wasn't the least bit surprised to see her (self-proclaimed) best friend and older sister sitting at the dining table chatting animatedly about anything that came to mind. The two had hit it off from the moment they met, in a nutshell Kise had pretty much gained a third older sister. That being, one of Kise's older sisters had found a best friend in Kaed's older sister very quickly. Because of the Tsuji sister's parents' frequent trips out of town the Kise household had pretty much all been very insistent (something Kaed and her sister agreed ran in the family) about them checking in on the two sisters weekly.

The older Tsuji's eyes brightened as she gestured for her younger sister to join her and Kise at the table, "Kae-chan! Perfect timing, we were just getting onto school as the topic," she said cheerfully. Tsuji Fumiko; twenty-three years old, and in her last year of college, she and Kaed had an undeniable sibling resemblance both sharing similar facial features and the same dark brown hair, albeit Kaed's was much more shaggy and short compared to her sister's wavy back length hair. Fumiko was also, in Kaed's opinion way more attractive, in both physical appearance and personality; no one seemed to argue otherwise so she deemed it true.

Quirking an eyebrow Kaed sat down, "I thought we were supposed to be studying," she said glancing at Kise, who just shrugged and smiled.

Fumiko waved her off, "You can do that later, socialize for a bit first. Your onee-chan wants to talk to you and your friend for a bit."

Kaed sighed, "Fine," she complied, resting her chin on her hand, elbow propped on the table. If there was something she didn't like about her sister it had to be Fumiko's insistence to know everything going on with her little sister. Kaed knew it was just her being an older sibling but things could get pretty uncomfortable on certain subjects, it was even worse when Kise's sisters were with her.

"So," Fumiko began on a happy note, "Kise-kun was telling me that you two met with Kuroko-kun a while ago. Why didn't you tell me earlier? You know how much I like that boy," she said a smile evident on her face.

"You like _every_ one of my friends that come over," Kaed said, irritated, they had gone over this before. Why did it always come up again?

The older girl chuckled, "Ah~ but your friends are all so cute~! I'm telling you, they're like the perfect cast for a show!"

"There you go again," Kaed groaned, "please, stop comparing our lives to your addictions."

Kise, who had been oddly quiet then piped up, "But Tsujicchi, you watch those too and make all kinds of weird references-," he was cut off by Kaed elbowing his side with a completely straight face.

"Kise," the girl's voice was cold, "If you have forgotten we all agreed that the incident will never be mentioned again."

"Mou, fine-ssu," Kise pouted while rubbing his side gingerly. "You didn't have to be so cruel about it though."

All the while Fumiko looked on, nearly sweat-dropping (or so she thought in her head), at the two teen's antics. Kise had brought up 'Kurokocchi!' and the topics had been extremely random from there on out. From basketball plays, to their friends, to Kise's continuous abuse from the Generation of Miracles, to incidents from middle school, and even (as brief and odd as it was) who they thought would end up with who out of the people they knew right now. As odd as the conversation was, Fumiko couldn't help but smile, it was rare for her sister to talk so much and so freely. From what she had seen, Kise and the rest of her middle school friends (whom Fumiko knew had changed and split apart) were the only ones to ever get Kaed to be so honest with both herself and other people. Though that honesty did go a bit far at times. . .

Laughing lightly to herself Fumiko gave a small farewell wave to the two Kaijou students, one of which was dragging the other upstairs while reprimanding the other about getting off track and losing valuable studying time which was what the other had come for. The other was pouting and whining the whole way but one could see he knew that he had been the one to ask for help.

* * *

"I don't get it," Kise said, looking blankly at the piece of paper in front of him. They were currently going through Kaed's notes on the review test to be taken in two days, needless to say, the model wasn't having the easiest time with it. "So if a2 plus b2 equal's c2, does that mean that c equals 74-ssu?"

"No," Kaed scribbled down the problem again, "see, if a2 is 25 and b2 is 49 than c2 would be 74. C would be 8.6, since a is 5 and b is 7. This is pretty simple math Kise, I don't see how you can't get it."

Kise stuck out his bottom lip in a childish pout, "_Tsujicchi_ you know I'm not good with things that make me have to use my head-ssu!" he blubbered, worried about his grades and chances of staying on the basketball team.

The girl shook her head and sighed, they really weren't getting that far. "Fine, we'll take a break for now. We've been at this for at least an hour and a half already," she said. Kise let out a happy cry now that his brain wouldn't be steaming. Kaed rolled her eyes, "Say, Kise, if you can't use your head how do you pick things up so quickly when it comes to copying people?"

"Eh? I actually don't know, Momocchi said it had to do with my perception or something though," Kise shrugged, he had never given his ability much thought.

"That aside, how do you plan on wooing Ueno and combating Kiyo-senpai?" Kaed questioned, interested to see how he would react.

Kise went pale at the mention of that, "I can't though! We're just friends and I don't have the time!" his head went down in defeat, "But Kiyo-senpai won't listen!" the blond wailed, "Why does everyone bully me like this-ssu?!" Kise was currently in the midst of wailing and wallowing in self-pity. No one even really listened to the blond in the first-place, so it was expected that he was picked on.

Kaed groaned, she had just unleashed a very possible migraine. Fleetingly, she wondered why she even put up with Kise's melodramatic and crybaby self. Not being able to come up with a good enough reason she just tossed protocol out of the window and patted Kise on the back, "You're just an easy person to pick on Kise," she stated bluntly.

"Not helping Tsujicchi-ssu! Not helping!" Kise cried, this time stealing one of Kaed's pillows and burying his face in it.

The tear-fest was abruptly cut short as Fumiko opened the door and raised a curious eyebrow at what she saw. Kise crying into a pillow and Kaed rubbing her temples. "Am I interrupting something?" she asked, slightly uncomfortable, she knew Kise was a very emotional person, but seriously, _now_?

"N-no," Kise sniffled raising his head from the pillow; which Kaed took gingerly.

"In that case since it's getting late, are you staying for dinner?" Fumiko asked, she wasn't used to anyone other than she and her sister being in the house most of the time, but it was hospitable. Well that and the poor boy was crying for some unknown reason.

Kise shook his head in a negative, "Thank you for the offer-ssu. But my family is expecting me back soon, I guess we lost track of time," he stood and brushed off his pants before picking up his bag and walking to the door, Kaed and Fumiko following behind. "I'll see you tomorrow than Tsujicchi!" Kise waved as he began the trek home.

After waving back in farewell Fumiko closed the door and turned to her little sister, a devious grin set on her features. Seeing her sister's evil look, Kaed quickly attempted to get back to her room, only to be caught by the wrist and dragged over to the table. "When were you planning on telling me that your friends are in a play?"

Kaed gulped, one of the few things that could manage to intimidate her was her sister's interrogations. The younger Tsuji often wondered why she never went into police work, Fumiko could get info out of _anyone_. Well except maybe Akashi, Kaed shivered at the thought of the former Teiko captain; she was officially glad that she had chosen to live with her sister in Kanagawa instead of tagging along to Kyoto with her parents. She kept her mouth shut, both for her and her friend's sakes.

Not the least bit deterred, Fumiko pressed on. "C'mon Kaed, we both know _something's_ going to happen. Planning on being the instigator?"

As she tried to keep a straight face, internally Kaed was sweating bullets. Why, oh why did her sister have to know how to pressure others like this? Bracing herself Kaed answered steadily, "No, I don't meddle anymore. You know this so why are you even asking?"

Fumiko's grin never wavered, "Even if you say that you already know that someone is going to come along and drag you into it. Why not shake things up and do it yourself?"

Keeping her face even she responded placidly, "Aneue I'm trying to stay out of these things. Please don't keep trying to get me back into messing with other people's lives," after replying Kaed simply stood up without another word and made her way back up the stairs.

When Kaed was out of eyesight Fumiko dropped the smile and sighed, placing her head on the table wearily. Everything was starting to go downhill again. She was amazed at how fast things changed and withered apart.

* * *

Sitting at her desk, Kaed glanced at the scattered papers. Deciding to try and tidy up her desk she shuffled them all together, the process of doing so she managed to accidentally brush something at the bottom of the pile off the wooden surface. Placing the stack of papers into the corner of the desk, she then reached down to see what had fallen. The dark haired girl's breath caught in her throat as she recognized the familiar faces on the photograph.

The scene caught in the photo was a memorable one, taken by one of her seniors in the Newspaper Club at the end of her first year of middle school. It had been a rather odd scene; Kaed had been visiting when one of the members of the Basketball Club had bad mouthed Kuroko. Needless to say, his current Light at the time hadn't been very pleased at all. Aomine had gotten into a heated spat with the boy (a third year if she remembered correctly) with Midorima trying to ignore them, and Kaed and Momoi trying to break them apart. The conflict had stopped as soon as Akashi had arrived, and ordered Murasakibara to deal with them. Deal with them they did, at the end of it all the floor had been damaged and there was Hell to pay when Akashi learned of them all shirking practice for their bickering. In the end the photo had ended up as most of them cleaning up the gym with Akashi looking positively smug and Kuroko using misdirection to hide in the corner. It wasn't her best memory of middle school but it sure stood out.

Setting the photo back on her desk (underneath all of the other papers) she returned to what she had originally been looking for; a copy of the Inter-High brackets. Studying the match-ups Kaed smiled slightly as she read over the school names. Well, she was going to have to pay her fellow Cancer a visit soon, be it before or after his defeat or victory.

* * *

**A/N: Finally getting into some of the other characters, yay! But that aside major announcement to make, because of the idea that wouldn't leave me alone I've started writing and planning a prequel and side-story to this one. It'll be divided into one-shots that will (hopefully) be much longer than my usual chapters, but will take much longer to complete. But because of possible spoilers to this story I need to ask the few readers I have if the prequel part will be okay. If not I'll separate those from the side-stories which will center around the more minor characters along with extras that didn't make it into this story. So, Review, PM, whatever.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Break 8: Luck**

* * *

"_Please just listen 'cause I don't ask for much, I am my own man I make my own luck,"_

_-American Authors – Luck_

* * *

Seirin's match against Shutoku passed quickly for Kaed, who had been expecting as such. She had tagged along with Etsu instead of Kise because Kasamatsu (who was with Kise) seemed to have an aversion to those of the female gender. Observing the rain, Kaed turned to Etsu who had been tugging her along to find Kise. "Etsu-san, I think I'll meet up with you later. I have something to attend to."

Etsu looked at her friend, surprised, "In the rain?! What could you possibly need to do?"

"I need to have a word with Midorima," Kaed said, wishing her friend knew how to pick up on subtle signals. The petite girl then nodded in understanding and jogged off in search for the two male Kaijou students. As she walked through the rain, the soft patter of water droplets falling filled Kaed's ears as she searched for her green-haired acquaintance.

A tall figure came into view, features blurred by the sheet of water falling around it. It wasn't until she came closer did Kaed recognize the basketball player. Midorima didn't notice her come up as he seemed to be just getting off the phone. "Disappointing loss I would think Midorima," she said, making her presence known.

The fate-obsessed teen turned to her, not looking particularly pleased or displeased at her appearance. "Tsuji," he replied curtly, "what are you doing here?"

Kaed raised an eyebrow at his cold response, "What, can't I come and see how you're doing after a defeat?"

"If you must know I'm not in the best of moods right now," Midorima said, "I was defeated by _Kuroko_ of all people and Oha-Asa failed me, I even had my lucky item for the day-nanodayo!"

Letting out a sigh, Kaed shook her head. She really should have seen this coming. "Midorima, fortune and luck isn't everything."

Midorima scoffed, "Well it is to me. Sometimes I'm ashamed that you're a Cancer." The two had that same trait and that was about it. Both Kaed and Midorima seemed to have majorly differing personalities despite that fact. His expression became serious as he recalled who he had just gotten off the phone with, "It's not like I care or anything but, I just got off the phone with Momoi and Aomine. You should know that Touou is Seirin's opponent soon."

"Right," Kaed nodded. Looking at him apprehensively she spoke again, "You know Midorima, sometimes you have to make your own luck." The addressed was about to respond when a voice cut in.

"Shin-chan!" the boy wearing a Shutoku jersey called out. As he came closer, Kaed recognized him as the one with the Hawk Eye who stopped Kuroko during the match. "Why did you leave me behind like that?!"

Midorima's eye twitched in annoyance as he adjusted his glasses, "I told you to stop calling me that Takao!"

"I like Shin-chan better though," Takao said. Catching sight of Kaed, he looked at her curiously, "Who are you?"

"An acquaintance of Midorima's," she said, a small smile of amusement on her face as she noticed Midorima becoming quite irate. "Tsuji Kaed, it's nice to meet you."

Takao nodded, and then smiled, "I'm Takao Kazunari, one of Shin-chan's teammates."

"What is it you want Takao?" Midorima snipped irritably. Honestly, first Kaed now Takao, could things get any worse?

"Ah! I wanted to know if you wanted to grab something to eat," Takao said, and then turned to Kaed, "You can come too! It's not very often that Shin-chan seems to have friends."

Taken aback somewhat by the sudden offer all Kaed could do was give a polite nod, "If you don't mind," she said, mostly directed to Midorima, "I would love to."

The Generation of Miracle's shooter sighed. Takao was going to be on him all week if he didn't agree. Besides, after the game he was a bit hungry. And it could be worse than Kaed, Takao could've invited Kise or something. Midorima nodded in defeat, "Fine, let's go-nanodayo."

* * *

The restaurant Takao had picked was slightly familiar to Kaed, she remembered passing it several times. Takao took the lead and opened the door allowing them all to enter. "Excuse me, table for three please."

"Where-" Midorima started but stopped short. The trio's faces all changed into those of disbelief at what they saw. Seirin, Kise and Kasamatsu, all with facial expressions mirroring theirs.

"What are you doing here! And just the two of you!?"

"Hey! Tsujicchi's with them too!"

Takao scratched the back of his head as he explained, "Well our senpai left when Shin-chan went off crying so I'm eating with him. And Tsuji was with Shin-chan when I found him."

"Let's go elsewhere, Takao, Tsuji," Midorima turned on his heel to walk out the door, Takao and Kaed following behind. As luck would have it they were all hit with a huge, cold, gust of wind right as they exited. They immediately took shelter inside.

Catching sight of Kasamatsu, Takao's eyes widened, "Your're," he pointed at him, "Kaijou's Kasamatsu-san!" he exclaimed.

Kasamatsu just regarded him blankly, "You know me?"

"I saw you in Basketball Monthly! You're a nationally reputed point guard! Wait," Takao looked thoughtful for a moment before brightening again, "Wow! It'd be awesome to talk to a famous senior who plays the same position as me! Let's have dinner together!"

"Huh?" Kasamatsu seemed confused by Takao's enthusiasm, "But Seirin's celebrating. Is that okay with you two?"

"I don't mind!" Takao chirped, "Come Kasamatsu-san! Here!" he continued pulling the Kaijou captain along to where Seirin was sitting.

* * *

The air at the table where Kaed had found herself stuck at (she had pulled up another chair to sit at the end of the table) was thick with awkwardness. At the other tables the Seirin team was watching them in incredulity while Riko seemed happy. And Kasamatsu was convinced that Takao had planned for it to end up that way.

"Anyway let's order," Kuroko said, breaking the silence, "I'm hungry."

"I'm almost full, I'll just finish up what I already have," Kise said, taking a bite from the food he had already ordered.

Midorima snorted, "You just love food that looks like vomit."

"Must you take every opportunity to insult me?!" Kise cried. As Kise was whining about being insulted the other three people had taken to ordering. Well it was more like one person who seemed to be ordering for everyone.

"Squid eggs, scrambled eggs, octopus with eggs, kimchi pork," Kagami listed off from the menu. The other teens at the table with the exception of Kuroko looked at him incredulously.

"What spell are you chanting?!"

"You ordered too much!"

"It's fine," Kuroko said blankly, "Kagami-kun will finish it all."

"Are you even human!?"

After their surprise died down they resumed waiting for their (Kagami's) food. Kaed glanced around not exactly knowing what to do. She just hung her head and sighed, why the heck did they have to make things weird like this? Soon, getting their food Kaed decided to pull a Kuroko and pretend to be invisible.

"Midorimacchi, your food's burning," Kise pointed out.

"I don't feel like eating," he crossed his arms stubbornly. Obviously still quite irate about the events that transpired earlier.

Kise sighed, "I know you feel bad but, hey! You'll get another chance someday!" he said perkily.

"We lost just earlier today!" Midorim snapped, and looked disapprovingly at Kise, "In fact-I find it hard to understand! Hanging around and joking with them like that. They're the ones who defeated you!"

A sly smile crossed Kise's features, "Well, that's because I'm gonna get revenge! A the Inter-High of course." His declaration caught the other three at the table's attention, causing them to look up from their food and direct their attention towards him. "I won't lose next time."

Kagami gulped down his food and grinned, "Bring it on."

"Kise," Midorima said, scrutinizing the model, "you seem different. You're eyes look weird."

"Weird?!" Kise exclaimed. A soft smile formed on his lips as he mused, "After the match with them, I went back to practice more."

Noticing a small commotion over at Seirin's table, Kaed glanced over. And promptly choked slightly on her water. "G-guys-"

"Recently I've started to think…" Kise went on not noticing Kaed's attempt to get their attention.

"Ack!" the girl coughed as she saw what was going on at Seirin's table, "O-oi! You guys-"

She was ignored as the others kept on. "That it's fun playing basketball with everyone in Kaijou," Kise finished.

"I was wrong, you haven't changed a bit," Midorima said taking a bite, "You just went back to your old self. Before we were the triple champions."

"But," Kuroko said, breaking his silence, "So has everyone, right? What you want is freedom. I do play basketball for fun."

Kagami glanced around before stopping his eating streak. "You're all thinking too much! Basketball is something people do because they like it!"

Midorima glared at him, "Don't tell us what to think when you don't even know us."

"Oi!" Kaed cried in a desperate attempt to get their attention, "Midorima watch-!"

The food Takao had been tossing around landed right on Midorima's head. With a deathly aura around him, Midorima stood. "Anyway we'll talk later. Come here Takao."

Kaed felt a bead of sweat run down her head, "I tried to warn you."

"Hey! I'm sorry, no I didn't mean it! I don't know how that okonomiyaki could fly…Ouch!" Takao tried to apologize as he was forcibly being dragged to his doom by Midorima.

"It's just as Kagami-kun said. I've thought about it since the match," Kuroko said, "We'll never get any better at basketball if we don't find it fun." There was the smallest trace of one of his rare smiles on his face.

* * *

Time passed without anyone noticing until the Seirin team spoke up, "Oh, the rain stopped."

"Really?"

"It's getting late, let's get back."

Meanwhile at the other table, everyone (except Kuroko) was gawking at Kagami like he had just eaten a whole cow or something. Considering how much he ordered, him eating the equivalent wasn't too far of an idea. Without warning Midorima stood up at spoke to Kagami, "Kagami, some advice for you," the addressed red-head looked up curiously, "There are two of the Generation of Miracles in the Tokyo district. I am one, the other is Aomine Daiki. You'll definitely see him in the final league. And, he's the same type of player as you."

"Huh?" Kagami seemed confused for a bit, "I don't get what you mean, but he's strong right?"

"Yes, he is," Kuroko answered, "But his style of play…I don't like it."

As Midorima was about to take his leave, he left with one last comment to them, "Just work hard."

"Midorima-kun," Kuroko said, causing the shooter to stop at the door. "Let's, compete again."

"Of course," the green-haired Shutoku student said, "and next time I'll be the winner."

Walking outside he saw Takao waiting for him. The two got into an argument that could be heard throughout the neighborhood.

"Tsujicchi," Kise said, indicating to the auburn eyed girl, "we should probably start going too. Are you coming with Kasamatsu-senpai and I?"

Kaed nodded, "Yeah, I think I will. Etsu-san is probably already back in Kanagawa. I really should have told her that I was staying so late."

As the Kaijou group bade farewell and were about to take their leave Kuroko then called out to Kaed. "Tsuji-san, please take care." Turning back to meet his pale blue eyes Kaed nodded, a small smile on her face.

"I will," she said before leaving with Kasamatsu and Kise. A content air was around her as she slowed her pace to fall behind the other two slightly. Observing their small bickering with Kise whining and Kasamatsu giving him no time to talk back, Kaed tilted her head in amusement. The rain had stopped and the clouds had cleared, giving an excellent view of the night sky, Kaed looked up, appreciating the aesthetic part of nature. While doing so she ran Kuroko's last words to her over in her head. On the surface one would think he was referring to her. But Kaed knew better, there was that unspoken 'of Kise' she mentally tagged to the end.

It had been this way since middle school. She had somehow found herself looking after the flighty model more and more often after the _incident_. Kaed nearly chuckled to herself at the thought, oh how things changed.

Looking back on the day's events she wondered if it had been a stroke of fortune or misfortune, that had allowed them all to convene at one place. Slowly, but maybe, things were starting to come together again.

* * *

**A/N: Short author's note this time to Aloce (Guest), thanks for the support I appreciate it. And yes, Kaed/Kise moments should be coming but this story actually doesn't have any official pairings. Hints yes, official no. Well at least for now. That's actually something I want to know the reader's opinions on, so feel free to toss in suggestions in such. And before I forget, big thanks to SnowstormX for being flat out cool. Same goes to everyone who actually favorited or followed this story, it means a lot.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Break 9: Anomalies of Acting**

* * *

"_All the world's a stage,"_

_-Shakespeare_

* * *

No one could speak as the roles for the (student-written) play were handed out. Kiyo for once was very serious as he and his vice, another third year by the name of Kagawa Masahiko, were quite determined to get things right. Kagawa was easily much more normal than his fellow club member. But that didn't stop him from completely supporting his president's more, ahem, _crazy_ schemes. This was one of those times.

The basic premise of the story was a love-triangle between the three main leads. The girl (Ueno, the poor girl had been subject to Kiyo's insistence that she play the part) was currently trying to work out her feelings for a childhood best friend gone bad and her old bully who is trying to make amends. Some of the other conflicts adding on to the main was, a clingy, jealous girlfriend of the childhood friend, and a lot of history between all of them none of it good, 'A tale of three star-crossed lovers!' he said. Kiyo had almost added in an attempted suicide and murder but Kagawa had convinced him not to under the fact that they were trying to get new members. Not scare them off.

Kiyo had been very pushy about their roles, Ueno as the girl, Yoko, Kise as the childhood friend, Rikuto (mostly because he was supposed to end up a lonely old cat man, Kise commenced whining), and himself as the old reformed bully, Benkei. Other roles such as the clingy girlfriend, Chouko (to be ironically played by Ume, much to her pleasure and Kise's horror along with the jealousy of many other girls) were divided up promptly. At this time the only people in the auditorium were Kise, Kiyo, Masahiko, Ueno, Maiya, Etsu, and Kaed, plus a few of the other drama club members going through all the props.

As she read through the script, Etsu couldn't help but note the similarities the normal 'Romeo and Juliet' plays had. At this Kaed had to question whether any of them had read the play all the way through. When she did ask everyone, even Kiyo and Masahiko (the two said they always preferred Macbeth and couldn't stomach all the Romeo and Juliet references) shook their heads in a negative. This caused Kise to pipe in, "You read Romeo and Juliet, Tsujicchi?" he couldn't quite believe it. Kaed never struck him as the type to have romances hidden in her closet. From the looks on everyone else's faces they couldn't quite believe it either.

Kaed huffed in annoyance at the looks on their faces. Was it really that hard to believe she had read the play? Obviously quite so. "Yes, I did. And I can't believe how many people got it so wrong."

"But didn't it end well for all of them. Like after going through a bunch of trials true love came through?" Maiya asked, quite confused by Kaed. Romeo and Juliet was supposed to be the best love story of all time. Why would she say they got it wrong? Maiya never once heard anyone compare an unhappy love story to the play.

"They all died in the end actually," Kaed said nonchalantly, as if they were talking about the weather or breakfast. The group's reactions were, well, interesting to say the least. Both Masahiko and Kiyo choked on air, Maiya went pale, Ueno seemed to be in the midst of processing that information, Etsu's jaw dropped as all of her assumptions went up in flames, and Kise was just blinking dumbly.

Well that went on until. . ., "What?!" was the exclamation of them all. The other people in the auditorium with them momentarily looked at them like they were crazy before returning to what they were originally doing. It was probably for the best as well since their expressions nearly caused Kaed to burst out laughing. She internally thanked Kuroko for teaching her how to keep a straight face when confronted with these types of situations.

Deciding to explain the circumstances in order to snap them out of their stupor, Kaed spoke again. "You see in the end Juliet pretended to die in order to get out of her marriage to Paris. But things went sour when Romeo found out and _actually_ killed himself to be with her. Then Juliet woke up, found Romeo dead and then killed herself, for real this time. Paris found the two dead and then _he_ killed himself. In the end the two families reconciled because of the loss of their children. Moral of the story: Don't rush head-first into romance," she summarized.

"I…see," was all Etsu managed to get out before returning to her shock-induced catatonic state. Kiyo and Masahiko also were quite surprised by it, the latter excusing himself to go discuss some of the backdrops with the Art Club. They all pretty much stood there in awkward silence until Kaed glanced over to where the props were and called out.

"Kise! Duck!" she yelled, to the startled blond.

"Huh? Duck? Where-Ouch!" Kise's head jolted forward as he was hit on the back of the head with the incoming prop. Rubbing his now aching head, he bent down to pick up the fallen prop and frowned. "It _is_ a duck!"

Kaed stared at the prop in minor disbelief, it _was_ a plastic duck. Or was it a chicken. . .That aside she smiled apologetically at Kise, who was glaring at the duck prop. "Sorry Kise, I _did_ tell you to duck."

"Yeah, yeah," Kise grumbled, still massaging his sore noggin. "Who threw that-ssu?!" he yelled over to where the Drama Club members were still sorting out props like they _hadn't_ just hit the basketball team's ace. No one said a word causing the tall teen to cross his arms and pout like a stubborn child.

After that little happening Kiyo pretty much kicked Maiya, Etsu, Kaed and Kise out of the auditorium to get practice time with Ueno. The slightly offended quartet then made their way over to the gym to drop off a whiny Kise at practice. Aforementioned model was greeted with a foot to the back by Kasamatsu who seemed quite ticked off that he wasn't notified that Kise would be late. Quickly leaving the basketball player to his fate, the girls promptly made their exit.

* * *

"You know I actually think Kise would make a good actor," Kaed said, "if he copied someone of course." The girl's had ended up wandering around the streets of Kanagawa again and chatting about the play. Or more accurately, poking fun at who was playing who and the hilarity of the script when you thought about it. As of now they had pointed out the oddity of Kise/Ume (probably set up by Kiyo to spite Kise), bet on how long they would last on stage, and debated on who would be the victim of the traditional female sports club's prank. The tradition stretched back to when the girls teams' were victim to the boy's having the bright idea to stick unidentifiable goop in the girl's washroom. Needless to say, the girls sport's teams had created an alliance where every year they would pick out whoever had the worst bone to pick and humiliate them publically…it was never very pretty. Over the years the target pool had grown to include females as well.

Maiya nodded in agreement, "Most likely, I wonder how Ueno's going to hold up with two guys vying for her attention. Especially when one's her crush, who only thinks of her as a friend as of now, and the other is a very determined senpai."

A devious smile flickered onto Etsu's lips, "Well, that's what _we_ are here for ladies." She (tried to) swing her arms around her two taller companions, clutching their shoulders and bringing their heads down to whisper to them. "See, at this time we'll be observing who is better for her; and then we set them up! Ue-chan will finally get a boyfriend!" at this point Etsu attempted to laugh manically; only for it to come out like a dying cat and a pig, drawing stares from people on the street. Maiya and Kaed promptly pretended not to know her.

Kaed silently wished Ueno luck in dealing with Etsu. Though, she was somewhat glad that Etsu had shifted her attention away from her and to someone else. Etsu had given up on matchmaking Kaed their last year of middle school when it was evident she had no desire for anything other than a platonic relationship at that point.

* * *

Evening came quickly for the group how said their good-byes before heading home. Kaed was about a block down from her house when her phone started ringing. Too lazy to check who it was she held the phone up to her ear, "Hello?"

**"TSU-CHAN! HOW ARE YOU? What have you been doing? Are you and Ki-chan toge-," **Kaed briskly jerked the phone away from her ear and snapped it shut. Of course it took less than ten seconds for it to ring again, now knowing who was on the other side she held the phone a few inches away from her ear. The auburn eyed girl made a mental note to always check the caller I.D first to make sure her eardrums were not blown out the next time she answered a call.

"Yes Momoi?" she asked calmly.

**"You didn't have to hang up on me you know!" **Kaed could almost hear Momoi's small frown in her voice. "**I was just calling to see how you were doing. You never call or visit!"**

A soft smile worked its way across Kaed's face, "Nice of you to think of me Momoi, I'm doing fine. A little busy now, but I'm well. How about you?"

**"I'm fine, but," **she could hear Momoi hesitate on the other end of the line, "**Aomine-kun has been skipping practice and games more often now."**

"I see, so that's how it is," Kaed said, stopping outside of her house, "Seirin should be playing you soon. You'll be seeing Kuroko-kun soon."

**"Right,"** for once Momoi wasn't fangirling about the phantom man, something was obviously bothering her. Kaed decided not to pry as Kuroko could probably fix that in person.

"Well, see you soon than Momoi," Kaed said, ready to hang up.

**"Same to you Tsu-chan, tell Ki-chan I said hi!"** with that the line was disconnected.

Unlocking the door, Kaed stepped inside the cool house. Slipping off her shoes, she made her way upstairs. Placing her bag down on her bed she moved to her desk where the many sheets of paper lay. Finding what she had been looking for, she gently picked up the scrap of newspaper and made her way down to the kitchen. Taking the lighter she went into the backyard and to the small fire-pit in the patio. Placing the clipping into it, the girl switched on the lighter and lit the small scrap ablaze.

She had only just found the will to finally do the deed after five years. It was time she let go of that one piece of history. Not for herself, but for a friend who trusted her to do what they couldn't. It was strange, she thought, that the last word to burn was the first to start everything. Yet, it so perfectly fit the way life was moving somehow. It was a poignant part of life, but so simple in which it was. _Anomalies_, Kaed thought, were a strange and familiar part of life.


	11. Chapter 11

**Break 10: Sociality and Technicalities**

* * *

_ When dealing with the complex workings of a teenage mind, it's good to have a map. Or a survival guide when it comes to dealing with…difficult specimens._

* * *

Kise Ryouta; one of the Generation of Miracles, popular model, and one of the more popular people when it came to getting girls in the world of high-school basketball players. Those were just a few things that described the blond copycat. Other common words used to describe him were, as follows; moron, crybaby, annoying, childish, pretty boy etcetera. Well that was really just from the people that knew him personally. It was to be expected that he was very popular amongst his peers. At times he often wondered what it would be like not having some type of attention directed at him for once. Not that he'd _actually_ want that. He was just curious. Kaijou had gotten into the Inter-High and mid-terms were coming up, the added stress had caused Kise to take a day off to himself…and drag Kaed along for the ride.

The blond had been relentless in his begging to get Kaed to take the day off with him. He was absolutely determined to get her away from studying and her other activities for one day. 'Kurokocchi is helping Kagamicchi study for mid-terms! So you're coming with me than.' He had said. Kaed was starting to think that transferring to Seirin might not be such a bad idea after Kise had pretty much kidnapped her since going to Kuroko was out of the question. She was having a hard time keeping her annoyance in check, what with Kise babbling about anything and everything in her ear as he dragged her around Kanagawa.

'Just nod and smile.' She kept telling herself in a therapeutic chant of sorts. Even after all the time spent with the model, Kise still found some way to make Kaed want to take a basketball and chuck it at his head to shut him up; and maybe a pair of scissors for good measure. She shook the violent thoughts out of her head, no, she refused to let the Generation of Miracle's insanity rub off on her. She was perfectly sane and wanted it to _stay_ like that. Kaed had in fact told Kise to buzz off several times already, so why was he still here? Better yet why the heck was _she_ still here?

Her eye twitched as she took in the sight around them. How idiotic could Kise get? "Kise," she tried to keep her voice level. "You idiot! Why would you drag me _here_ of all places?!" And she failed to do so. The duo was in the one of the popular commercial areas of Kanagawa. As such it was a hive for media and students. Kise was just _asking_ to get bombarded again wasn't he?

"Aw~ but Tsujicchi, I thought it would be fun just to hang out again like in middle school," Kise said, a near trademark pout set on his lips. Kaed sighed, she'd just have to go along with it or risk a sulky Kise. That was even worse than a euphoric Kise, he'd get even more clingy (with complete disregard for personal space, wait, that's just _normal_ Kise).

"Fine, I'll stay," the girl said, seeing the wide grin on Kise face she quickly shot him a cold glare, "But it's your fault if I start getting death threats." Instantly Kise started his whines.

"But Tsujicchi~ those weren't death threats! They just aren't good with words and wanted to be your friend!" Kaed had to restrain herself from both taking a page from Kasamatsu's book and introducing her foot to his face, and face-palming at the blonde's ignorance.

Heaving a heavy sigh Kaed reluctantly allowed Kise to pull her along. The two quickly made a circuit around the whole area. Stopping almost everywhere; from music stores ('Kise turn the volume down!'), an antique shop ('Think we'll see Midorimacchi?'), the arcade ('Still have to copy people at DDR?'), and many, many clothing outlets ('Hey I remember this outfit-ssu!'). They eventually stopped at a small café to have a somewhat late lunch. By the time they were sitting down Kaed was near panting in exhaustion while Kise managed to still seem fresh.

"How do you do it Kise?" Kaed asked, taking a large gulp of water before leaning back in her chair. She was dead tired out from all of the running around they were doing. Yet, Kise's grin hadn't once wavered. Even now he still had that sparkling smile plastered on his face.

Kise allowed his head to slip into his palm, "Eh~ I don't really know. So, since we did everything I wanted to do before, what do you want to do after this-ssu?"

"I was thinking," Kaed said, posturing up, "that maybe I could finally get around to taking you down to that lake, you know, since you used to bug me non-stop about teaching you how to skip rocks." It was true, Kise had been pretty fascinated by it since Kaed had shown him back in middle school. Besides, there wasn't much else they could do that didn't involve basketball.

Nodding quickly Kise was _not_ going to lose that chance. Kaed rarely let other people go with her when she went to the small body of water. Maybe he'd finally get the chance to ask her about what happened back in middle school. "Fine by me Tsujicchi~!"

Kaed hummed in in acknowledgement before she observed Kise, a crafty smirk barely visible, "Now that, that is out of the way. If you don't mind me asking, how are things going with Isobe-san?"

The model froze for a second before hacking on his water and turning his head to do a spit-take. "Where did that come from-ssu?!" Several girls (namely the crazy fans and girls who Kise managed to get involved with in various ways) were…touchy subjects. Kaed wasn't at all discouraged by his fearful look, they had been over this many times before. Usually when Kaed suspected there was something afoot. The girl was pretty perceptive and was almost always the first to confront him on personal or public matters. Kise still couldn't get used to her being able to pick out how many things he had going on around him. He supposed it was similar to how no matter what, Kaed never got used to him being so loud and flamboyant. There were some things that someone could never grow accustomed to, no matter how long they were around each other.

Shrugging, she disinterestedly poked the ice cubes in her water around, "Well, more specifically, how are you doing on the play? You and Isobe-san have a lot of scenes together. I think Kiyo-senpai even rewrote a kiss scene into the script," Kaed smiled in amusement at Kise's horrified face. Oh, how fun it was teasing the blond. She tended to think of this as returning the favor to Kise.

Horrified didn't even begin to cover what Kise felt toward this play. For one he was forced into it, for another, well his, ahem, _girlfriend_ (in the play mind you) seemed to take this as a sign that Kise would be more than happy to make it reality. Kise on the other hand had other ideas; most of which involved shredding the script, never having to see Ume face-to-face again, and clinging to Kuroko. Though that last one might have to be changed to Kaed if Kuroko refused again (and he's forgetting that Kaed usually did that as well…). "Bad, very bad, Tsujicchi," was all Kise managed to say before putting all of his attention to his food.

* * *

Lunch passed by quickly and silently for the two. Afternoon came and by the time they were done it was well past two o'clock. Both being finished, Kaed excused herself to wash her hands, leaving Kise alone for the time being.

When she returned she was caught between slamming her head into the close by wall and cracking up right then and there, but of course there was still that pity for the blond in the back of her head as well. As it just so happened, they had chosen a café right next to a small book and magazine store. Because of this, several schoolgirls had noticed a very familiar face right next to them and, well, Kise was once again put under the spotlight. Oddly enough, there was a single Kaijou student they both recognized.

Ouchi Hanako, a first year Kaijou student and former student at Teiko. Both Kise and Kaed had known her personally, Kaed more-so but not in a good way. The tension between the two had carried into high-school as well, luckily their meetings had always been very short and not even worth remembering. The unlucky model seemed to be answering her and the other girl's questions easily and without much trouble. Until that one kicker of a question came up, "Are you here with someone?" It was easy to tell that they were all hoping for a negative response.

But of course Kise, being the blabbermouth he is, completely disregarded Kaed's gestures for him to lie and said, "Yep~ in fact Tsujicchi's right over there-ssu." Never had the urge to dope slap the blond been so strong. Now Kaed was staring down a group of mildly to seriously ticked off girls. She wasn't sure whether to run or stand her ground.

The tight smile on Hanako's face showed her obvious displeasure as she greeted the taller girl, "Tsuji-san, what a _pleasant_ surprise to see you here. And with Kise-kun no less." Her dazzling blue eyes were locked onto Kaed's lithe figure in an apparent glare.

"Ouchi-san," Kaed said deftly, she was _not_ in the mood for a confrontation. "If you don't mind I really think we should be taking our leave right now," she said this with a sharp look in Kise's direction.

Catching onto the tension in the air, Kise shot out of his seat and nodded very quickly, "U-uh yeah. We should really get going-ssu. It was nice seeing you all, bye!" Without warning Kise grabbed Kaed's wrist and began (quite literally) dragging her down the street. They left a somewhat confused group of girls behind them as Kise kept up his brisk pace all the way up until they made it to the park.

Taking in their surroundings, Kaed nodded in approval. It was near empty, only a few small groups of people or individuals were scattered around the large area. Gently, Kaed tugged Kise along until they got to the shore of the waterline. Inspecting the stony ground, she bent down to pick up two of the smoother rocks. Turning to Kise she handed one to him and began her (sort of) explanation. "Just watch and try copying me."

Rolling the smooth stone around her palm a few times, Kaed stopped to make sure Kise was observing before tossing it up once and catching it with ease. Sliding her right foot back she twisted her body slightly to the side before snapping back, arm extended only slightly, with a heavy amount power directed into the wrist. The stone was sent skidding across the surface of the water, skipping several times before falling into the water with a small splash.

Kise seemed to get the gist of it and after running it through in his head once more positioned himself. In a fluid movement Kise near perfectly executed the same technique Kaed had done only seconds before. The stone did fail to go as far as Kaed's had but it was still impressive. The blond grinned happily, "I did it Tsujicchi-ssu! I did it!" he cheered, he honestly never thought to try his copying ability on something like that.

"Nice job Kise," was Kaed's simplistic reply. She never had any doubt that Kise would be able to do it.

* * *

Their stone skipping continued well until sundown, it was, as Kise had learned, quite addicting. The two hadn't said a word to each other from then, not until they began the walk home. It was then, when Kise recalled a certain question that had never been asked, much less answered.

"Say, Tsujicchi, what happened back in middle school?" Kise's arms, which had been crossed behind his head, came down as he looked inquisitively at his friend. Noting her melancholic expression, he wondered if there was more to what had conspired than what he originally thought.

"Not now, not here Kise," she said, keeping her pace and moving forward, not sparing Kise the slightest of glances. This was a very touchy subject on Kaed's part. Something she'd rather not dwell on in both fear and guilt at what had been and not been done.

It was clear that it wasn't a satisfactory reply for Kise. The blond was almost ready to launch an interrogation, but seeing her defensive stature, he refrained from doing so. Not here, not now, was what she had said. If Kise wanted answers he would have to be patient, and this was something he would be willing to wait for.

* * *

**A/N: I apologize for the late update, added in a few more hints in here as well. I've been trying to divide my time typing with several of my stories namely this one and MaFO. So updates might not come as quick as they used to but I'm thinking of adding in some Omakes of what transpired during the short time-skips I used, and maybe bring in the Kaijou team slightly earlier than originally planned. If so, would you readers prefer it in this story or _Miracles aren't Far Off_?**


	12. Chapter 12

**Break 11: Reflection**

* * *

_A flawed mirror, what's the use? It serves only as a broken reflection of what used to be._

* * *

As her train made its way to Tokyo, Kaed mulled over her last visit. Kagami Taiga, the Miracle that didn't become a Miracle some said. Seirin's new ace with an incredible ability to jump, that was who she was here to see. Not Kuroko, surprisingly, she had called ahead of time and learned that while the rest of the Seirin team was drilling, Kagami was to rest because of the strain put on his legs. It was a good time to talk to the fiery teen, while he was injured so she wouldn't be dragged into unnecessary physical shows. She could sympathize with him, she had been in that very same situation several years ago. And that was why she knew she wasn't going to find him sitting around doing nothing, it took a lot to convince someone with that kind of conviction to take a break.

Nimbly stepping off the train, Kaed took a quick look around to get her bearings before navigating toward the closest street basketball courts. Taking in the familiar sights of Tokyo, the girl kept a light and brisk pace, not once faltering in her step. Potholes, cracks, uneven ground, rocks, people, all were easily avoided with a fluid grace. The early summer sun warmed her skin, she was glad for it. With the Inter-High coming up so was summer. There was a light breeze that kept the temperature steady, gently rustling the leaves on the trees. Observing a few courts she came across Kaed failed to see the person she was looking for. Sighing in disappointment she persisted in her search.

Approaching the small court with light steps, Kaed couldn't help but be very amused at how absorbed Kagami was in his shooting practice. It was obvious that he shouldn't be doing it at the time from the way his legs slightly buckled every time he put too much pressure on them. As he expertly caught the ball in his hands, Kaed decided that this would be a good time to get his attention. "Oi, Kagami, can I talk to you for a minute?"

His reaction was rather predictable, he jerked in surprise and whirled around in a flash. Kagami's face was one of clear shock and surprise, even with hanging around Kuroko so much he didn't think he would ever get used to _anyone_ just popping up like that. "Y-you!? Why are _you _here?" he exclaimed, pointing in her direction.

The auburn eyed girl simply shifted her weight onto her back leg and crossed her arms with an entertained smirk on her features. He never failed to amuse. "It's rude to point you know Kagami," she said, regarding him with the finesse of a skilled viewer. "And to answer your question, I'm just here to check up on you."

"Check on me? Why?" Kagami watched her warily. Even if Kuroko had said she was trustworthy doesn't mean she was. He would play it safe for now and just see what she wanted.

Shrugging her shoulders Kaed replied casually, "Just to see how you were coming along. I know you hurt your legs so why practice and risk it getting worse?" She was honestly curious to his reasoning. The girl already had a basic idea of what was going on in his head, but she wanted a confirmation from Kagami himself.

Turning back to his practice, Kagami grunted in response, "They're healing up." He took the shot and flinched slightly as he landed. Kaed noted it and shook her head, the stubborn idiot.

"Hey the both of you are really here! Satsuki's information network is amazing!" a both unfamiliar and familiar voice came from behind them. Both of them turned to see who it was, Kagami confused and Kaed cautious. "You're Kagami Taiga?" the question was directed toward the red haired basketball player. The blue-haired newcomer had a cocky smirk on, "Be my opponent, I'm challenging you."

"Eh?" Kagami did not seem very on top of his challenge, "Who the hell are you? I hate people who just come up and challenge me without even telling me their name."

"Who cares, what you feel!" the challenger had an annoyed tone lacing his voice, "…well you can have my name. I'm Aomine Daiki."

Kagami didn't even try to conceal the shock on his face. Kaed on the other hand kept a placid demeanor if not a touch on edge. "Aomine," she stated dryly, "what is it that brings you over here?"

Aomine's arrogant aura didn't change, "I just want to test Kagami. I don't think he can win against me. Because the only one who can beat me is me. I'm bored and I want to know how much he can entertain me."

It was easy to see Kagami's patience wear thin. He was irked and he had no problem voicing it, "Kise and Midorima…the 'Generation of Miracles' is full of arrogant people who annoy the hell out of me." The red-haired basketball player's temper flared, "But you're in a league of your own in this! I'll teach you a lesson!"

Kaed wasted no time in trying to hold Kagami back. "Idiot," she grumbled, "you really _are_ Bakagami if you think you can win against Aomine as you are now. Unless you want to be beaten into the ground I suggest you don't let him get to you," she warned, not a hint of doubt in her voice.

"Do you think I'll seriously just let this guy get away with that?!" Kagami exclaimed.

"No I don't," Kaed kept her voice level, "but not here and not now." At her words Kagami ground his teeth together in frustration.

The Generation of Miracles' Ace smirked slightly in amusement, "C'mon Tsuji or should I say _traitor_," at this Kagami cast a surprised and confused look at Kaed who only clenched her hand, "don't hold him back. I just want to test him is all, we both know how this is going to end."

Suspicion and scorn flickered in the girl's eyes was she regarded her old acquaintance. Glancing at Kagami's determined glare in Aomine's direction she sighed wearily. "Fine, do what you want. Don't let me stop you." If anything Kagami seemed even more resolute in trying to defeat Aomine.

It barely took a few minutes before it was obvious that Aomine dominated the court. "That's weak," he sneered down at a tired out Kagami, "did you really beat Midorima?"

"You…!" Kagami was quite infuriated at this point.

"Right, team," Aomine said, "because Tetsu was there too. But if that's the case than that's really sad of him. He's a shadow. Shadows are the strongest when there's a strong light. With a light like you he'll become weak too!" With that Aomine easily passed Kagami's defense. "Your light, is dim."

* * *

After Aomine had taken his leave, Kagami was left in silence. From her spot on the bench, Kaed could easily see his frustration. Her patience used up Kaed looked at Kagami with contempt, "Are you just going to sit there and sulk all day?"

That got his attention, the beaten Kagami glared at the girl from his position on the ground. "Oh, shut up Tsuji. It's not like you know anything!" he snapped. Her reaction was mild for just being yelled at, the dark haired girl simply crossed her arms over her knees and leaned forward.

"I beg to differ Kagami, if anything as of right now I probably know more than you do. Particularly so when it involves the Generation of Miracles," Kaed remarked with an indifferent glance to his (still injured and now probably worse) legs. "So you want my help or not?"

Standing up, Kagami brushed himself off with a wary look in Kaed's direction. "Why do you keep trying to help me anyway? There's nothing in it for you unless you're planning some obscure plot to take me out for Kise or one of the other Generation of Miracles."

Cool auburn met a burning red as Kaed made and kept eye-contact with the still angry Kagami. Not once losing composure she held her gaze, "Look Kagami, I have no ulterior motives for trying to help you and that's that. It's a simple question; do you want my help or not?"

Even if he was still trying to trust her, Kagami had to admit to himself that right now he could use the help. Besides, other than that trick she pulled a while back, it didn't seem to him that she had any other experience with basketball. Maybe he'd finally crack that puzzle she had presented him with. "Fine, I'll listen to what you have to tell me. But what makes you think you could help me with this? You don't seem like the basketball type."

"That's an easy one," Kaed said, leaning down to pick up the stray basketball beneath the bench and standing, "I did it with the Generation of Miracles and I can do it for you," she began to walk to the court with a confused Kagami behind her, "But what I'll be going through with you are a few things that my old coach taught me, but tweaked for your current state. You won't be able to utilize them until you reach your full potential though, so this is just planning ahead. Oh yeah, and the Generation of Miracles don't know about this."

"Wait up one moment Tsuji," Kagami said studying her, "you said you did this for the Generation of Miracles. If you can still do more for them, why waste this on me?"

Unconcernedly spinning the ball on the tip or her finger before she answered, Kaed rolled the stopped basketball into her palm and glanced over her shoulder to look at the taller male. "The same reason Aomine called me a traitor. I don't support the Generation of Miracles in any way, shape, or form."

* * *

**A/N: Late chapter is late. And short too. Well I was debating on whether or not to continue this, but I figured it would be better to make it a two-part chapter and not leave you guys waiting for another two days or so. Sorry for the cryptic cliffhanger, but I do suggest you be very aware of some of the sub-plots that will and have showed up. If you can catch on to them you'll see some more slight hints to what lead to this. Other than that I can assure you clear answers will not come for a long time.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Break 12: Person of Interest**

* * *

_Sometimes the most inconspicuous have the most targets on their back._

* * *

"Where did you go Tsujicchi?" the blond questioned his back-in-Kanagawa friend. He was honestly a bit worried when she had pretty much disappeared with her phone turned off. Kise had even asked Etsu where she had gone and the girl just shrugged and said she had something to do. As such, Kise was determined to find out why she had just up and left without telling anybody. Prodding his silent companion he could see her patience for his annoyingness wearing thin. It was a trick he had picked up from hanging around her; if she refuses you, just annoy the heck out of her until she agrees so you shut up about it. Sometimes it took a while if she had the mindset to just ignore you, but it broke through…eventually.

Patience was a virtue and something Kaed was proud to have a lot of. Well, most of the time anyways. She had noted the more she had the more she ended up on the receiving end of the quirks of some of the most loony people she ever met. It was wonder to her why so many people (namely of the female variety) wanted to get closer to Kise and the others, when it had hit her. They probably didn't know about the odd and occasionally (homicidal) therapy needed tendencies of the crazy ones. That and the downright headache they all brought on. Kaed often wondered why she kept putting up with them but quickly dismissed those thoughts since she wasn't ever going to be able to get rid of them.

"Nowhere in particular, I just took a trip down to Tokyo," she had graced Kise with a (albeit very vague) answer just to try and get him out of her hair. Much to her chagrin, it didn't work. And if anything, Kise was even more curious about her trip to Tokyo.

"Ah! Why didn't you tell me?!" Kise whined, "We could have gone to see Kurokocchi! Please tell me you didn't go see him without me!"

Her eye twitched, "No, Kise I didn't see Kuroko-kun," Kaed answered. The temptation to try and ditch the model was growing ever stronger. Why oh, why did Kise have to be given the gift of gab? He just wouldn't give up.

"Eh~? Than why would you want to go to Tokyo-ssu?" The confusion across his face was obvious. He tilted his head in thought, bringing a hand to his chin. "Hmm, why else would you go to Tokyo Tsujicchi~?" The more he thought about it the more the one possibility was starting to make sense as much as Kise was denying it. It couldn't be that, "You went to see Kagamicchi-ssu!" Pointing an accusing finger at Kaed, Kise had a triumphant look on his face before it fell into a half-frown and half-pout. Seeing her faintly sheepish smile and nod the blond pouted even more, "Why would you go see Kagamicchi instead of watching me?" he cried in mock hurt.

Sighing to herself, Kaed gently pushed the model out of her personal space, much to the annoyance of the clingy Kise. "Yes, I did go to see Kagami," at this Kise's eyes narrowed, "but it was just to see how he was doing, he hurt his legs you know." The half-truth came out smoothly. It was almost laughable how easily she did it now.

Honey eyes lightening, Kise slipped back into his happy-go-lucky self. "Is he okay?" A single nod was his only response. Stretching his arms above his head, Kise regarded his friend a bit suspiciously, "Seirin is going against Aominecchi soon, right-ssu?"

"Yeah, I actually ran into Aomine as well," Kaed mumbled, barely audible but clear enough for the blond to make out what she was saying.

"Eh?! Aominecchi! Why didn't you say so?" Kise pried, not noticing the girl's distant look. Question remaining unanswered, Kise frowned and poked Kaed in the ribs. Jolting out of her stupor the auburn eyed female mustered up an icy glare at the model who just scratched his head.

"Not necessary Kise," she grumbled in irritation, "not necessary. Besides, it's not important."

"How is that not important!?" Kise wailed, waving his arms around wildly. "It's Aominecchi," he crossed his arms childishly, shoulders shrugged up, "Why didn't you take me with you-ssu?" he lamented.

Lightly whacking the back of the blonde's head Kaed huffed softly, "You had practice idiot. You couldn't come with me."

"Oh," Kise's face went blank for a moment. The fact he had just come from practice managed to slip his mind, when something came in its place, "But…Tsujicchi, didn't you have practice too?"

Kaed shook her head, "Nope, buchou said that since they have their own games coming up, weekend practice is for first-string only for now."

Blinking dumbly, Kise just stared at her, "I…see, so," his voice returned to a chipper tone, "How are you're friends? I haven't seen them for a while."

"Hmm? Oh, well Etsu-san has a recital coming up, Ueno is practicing for a play," she gave Kise an appraising glance, "something you should be doing as well," the blond just gave a strained laugh as he broke eye-contact in guilt, "and Maiya is busy with tennis practice."

"So everyone's busy, what have you been doing?" Kise questioned, he had never really asked about what she did when she wasn't either with him or school. Other than his usual pestering the topic never went into anything else, if he tried he was usually shot down with a single answer.

Shrugging, Kaed replied, "Not much, basketball on my own or at the street courts. Studying and the like. Nothing interesting, what about you? How's your modeling career going?"

Kise chuckled, it was always a bit odd that she asked him about that even when she never showed much interest in it. "I don't see why you ask me since I know you're not very interested Tsujicchi-ssu. But it's going well, I've been putting more time into basketball but my next photo book should be coming out after the Inter-High~."

"Speaking of the Inter-High," Kaed began, "how are practices going?"

"Eh heh, I'd rather not talk about it," Kise said sheepishly, the thought of how many blows to the back and head he had taken from Kasamatsu still made him sore. His captain never had any patience for his antics.

Nodding her head weakly in sympathy Kaed internally slapped herself for even asking. The answer was obvious but of course she had to go and ask. "Right…Kise, have you ever tried not being annoying?"

"Nope~!" was the blonde's cheerful reply.

Kaed shook her head, "You sound way too happy about that."

Jutting out his lower lip, Kise crossed his arms and grumbled, "So mean Tsujicchi-ssu…" tilting his head to the side, he let out a sigh, "You're getting to be like Kurokocchi…is that it?! Is that why you went to Tokyo-ssu?! To leave Kaijou and go to Seirin with Kurokocchi? I tried to get Kurokocchi to come with me, but he dumped me!" he cried hysterically grabbing hold of Kaed's shoulders and shaking her back and forth, "Now you're going to leave me too?!"

Letting her head drop, Kaed groaned. Not wanting to have to deal with the hysterical Kise, she gave a sharp kick to his shin, causing the blond to jump up clutching his (probably lightly bruising leg). As he landed back on the ground Kaed finished it with a hard slap to the back of his head.

Now nursing his aching head and leg, Kise was crying (although now much more comically than seriously now) more. "Why are you so cruel Tsujicchi-ssu?!"

"Because that's what keeps you in line," Kaed snapped bluntly. Kise's tears were starting to dry and he reverted back to his more whiny tone.

"But Tsujicchi-"

"No buts Kise," Kaed said curtly, "we both know that you aren't exactly the best person when it comes to subtlety."

He really had no answer to that, it was pretty true. So he settled for a sulky expression and a few glares that tried to be harsh but came out as more adorable, well according to some of the squee-ing on the street from several of the girls.

* * *

The two were quiet most of the way until Kaed's cell rang. Learning her lesson from the last two times she checked the caller I.D; Hiraoka Etsu. Drawing a blank on why she would call she took the call and held the phone up to her ear. "Yes Etsu-san?"

**"Kaed-chan,**" Etsu's voice was quiet on the other end, almost as if she didn't want anyone to know she was calling, "**are you alone right now?"**

Even more confused now Kaed turned away from Kise, ignoring his curious stare. "No, I'm with Kise right now. Why?"

The dark ash brown haired girl was getting more and more confused by her friend. It wasn't like Etsu to be so secretive or quiet. Kaed could hear Etsu curse discreetly, another very out of character thing for her to do, before speaking again. **"He's probably the worst person to be with right now. Look Kaed-chan, something happened and you need to get over here right now. Where are you?"**

"In front of the bakery near the half-way from my house to the school," Kaed replied, now both worried and curious.

"**Good, you're not too far away. I'm at the small park a few blocks away from the train station. I'll explain more when you get here. But first you need to ditch Kise-san."**

Hushing her voice, Kaed replied with a quick answer, "Okay, I will, but why ditch Kise? I know he's a blabbermouth but if it's important he'll keep his trap shut."

Etsu's voice was grim as she answered, "**Well…I just don't want him to get involved in this. You know how he is and if he knows why and who it happened to, I don't think he'll take it well. With the Inter-High coming up I don't want to burden him, we can handle this on our own."**

Nodding, even though she knew Etsu couldn't see it, Kaed continued, "But what happened? You're being pretty vague."

On the other side of the phone conversation, Etsu hesitated. Looking back at the scene over her shoulder she flinched and turned away. Her voice was shaky as she answered. Taking a deep breath Etsu tried to keep from bursting into tears and spilling everything over the phone. But she had to keep it together for everyone's sakes.

"K-kaed-chan, i-it's Mai-chan," the petite girl started choking up, causing Kaed to tense and glance back at Kise to make sure he wasn't listening. "S-she," another stifled sob, "s-she was attacked I-I think. I-I f-found her i-in the park on my way h-home. The police are h-here but we need an adult," her voice was starting to get more level much to Kaed's relief, "so can you call Fumiko-nee? Mai-chan's parents are out of town."

Kaed's initial shock was replaced by the sense of urgency to stay calm and the seething anger for whoever did this. "Okay, I'll call Aneue and I'll be there as soon as I can," stealing a glance at the clueless Kise, she sighed, "and I'll ditch Kise."

"**Thank you Kaed-chan, I appreciate it,"** Etsu said, trying to hold her tears and cries in.

"Alright," Kaed spoke softly, "no problem, I'm here. Just hold on for a bit longer." Hanging up with that, a forlorn look crossed her features. Sighing she looked at the ignorant Kise. Now came the hard part, ditching the curious, big mouthed model.

* * *

**A/N: What started as crack is ending in angst/hurt. Talk about mood whiplash. Well life isn't always a patch of flowers so this was a long time coming. And we'll probably run into a lot more of these sooner or later. Female-centric chapter up next, most of this will be filler until the Touou game. Aside from that I really appreciate all the favs and follows even there I know it's not a lot. Reviews are also very much appreciated. It completely blew my mind that my newest story managed to get nearly as many views as my oldest one. I was pretty nervous about writing an OC story at first, since they seemed to have a bit of a bad rep concerning some of them (I blame myself for reading way too many Mary-Sue parodies and getting paranoid, they were good though). And…wow, I never realized I knew how to ramble that much. So sorry about that, scene!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Break 13: Dear You…From a Friend**

* * *

_Anonymity is the gift to both the honest and dishonest_

* * *

Giving Kise the slip had been the hard part. After ending her conversation with Etsu, Kaed had immediately dialed Fumiko, who was luckily off of work. Explaining the situation to a hysteric/fuming older sister had been a bit difficult. But Fumiko collected herself (and her swears) to meet her at the park. Now that the easy stuff was done, now came the hard part; ditching Kise without raising any suspicions. As dumb as he seemed, the model could be quite perceptive when he wanted to.

He had his suspicions and acted on them. Questioning Kaed the moment she hung up on her sister. She had managed to get him off her back with a sharp look and some tactful suggestions to the boy. Departing with a worried glance, Kise had left the girl to the new problem that had cropped up.

Fiddling with a strand of hair that had come loose from its neat ponytail and bobby pins, Kaed felt her mind go on overdrive. It was a problem she had since before she could remember; whenever she got stressed she tended to way overthink situations and was much more susceptible random tirades. Due to practicing some calming techniques (or simply venting through whatever random athletics she felt up to) it happened much less often. Still, hearing about a friend (known for not even a year at that) getting attacked; that just brought up bad thoughts.

Nearing where the park was she could make out a cop car and ambulance along with her sister and Etsu's figures talking to an officer. Approaching warily, Etsu weakly waved her over as the officer went to make a call (presumably trying to contact Maiya's parents).

"Ah, you're here," the petite girl's voice was hoarse. Her usually vibrant eyes were dull and distant, locked onto the ambulance even now. "They said that they think whoever attacked Maiya got the wrong person," her fingers clenched into a fist, "that it was a mistaken identity."

Etsu's short stature was tense and defensive, like a mouse driven into a corner and forced to fight back against its will. She was clearly trying to both restrain herself from breaking down and going after Maiya's unknown assailant herself. The normally optimistic girl seemed to have run out of any light-hearted comments to ease the mood.

Fumiko on the other hand, had a much more melancholic air around her. Her face was grim as she explained further. "From her injuries they said that the attacker came at her with the intention to at least maim her. But because of her relatively unhurt state, they think whoever did this stopped once they got a good look at her. Maiya-san will be fine, she's only suffered some blunt force trauma to the body and a few cuts, nothing major."

Nodding gravely, Kaed let the information sink in. It was a big relief that Maiya would be okay. But the circumstances in which it happened didn't add up. Right now it was barely sunset, if it had happened a few hours ago it would have been in broad daylight. Either the assailant had really bad eyesight, or there was something fishy going on. "So, did they contact her parents?"

"Yeah," Fumiko nodded, "they did. When they heard her mother was hysterical. They're planning to leave Hokkaido right away so they should be back tomorrow we're hoping."

Glancing to the silently fuming and near tears Etsu, Kaed walked over. "I'm assuming Ueno doesn't know about this. Anyway, why can't Kise know about this?"

Shaking slightly the black haired girl gripped Kaed's forearm for support. "N-no she doesn't, and she shouldn't the same reason Kise can't. I told the police this too so don't worry, someone delivered a threat letter to Mai-chan two days ago, but it was addressed to Ue-chan. There was something about Kise in it but it was hard to read so we couldn't make out the details. We both thought it was a practical joke of some kind and didn't tell Ue-chan about it." Her voice was barely a small rasp, her skin pale and sickly.

If there was one thing Etsu couldn't take very well, it was pain from the ones closest to her. Even if it wasn't fatal she never was good at handling herself when it did happen, the incident five years ago told _that_ story quite clearly. Fumiko laid a gentle hand on the much shorter girl's shoulder and gave a reassuring squeeze, "Don't think about it too much, Maiya-san will be fine and the police are looking into it. Why don't I just take you back home, your parents must be worried," Fumiko said, slipping into her 'big sister' mode. Taking Etsu's hand she led the shell-shocked girl to her car and motioned for Kaed to follow.

Leaving Etsu in the care of her worried parents, Fumiko and Kaed made the way back home. As Fumiko parked, she turned to her little sister with a serious expression, "…Kaed, the officer told me to tell you that no one should know about this in school since they're still investigating. Especially because of that letter addressed to Hisa-san, make sure to keep quiet, okay?"

All Kaed could do was nod lightly with a small, "Yeah, I will."

* * *

Tick.

Tick.

Poke.

Tick.

Toc.

Tick.

_Poke._

Tick.

_**Poke**_**. **

Twitch.

The pattern continued as Kise continually poked at the girl, whose patience was growing ever shorter. It had been like this since that morning. The model had instantly let out a barrage of questions at Kaed the moment she was in eyesight. Kaed, however felt it was more appropriate to ignore the curious blond for the time being. He had begun poking her non-stop to try and get her attention since class had started. They luckily had not been caught (and Kaed hadn't snapped) but as the day drew to a close Kise had started doing it more frequently.

As the class was dismissed for the day, Kaed hastily packed up her things and made a beeline for the exit. Speed-walking her way out of the school building and ignoring the calls of 'Tsujicchi!' Kaed hastened her pace to try and outmaneuver Kise to get to the girls' basketball gym (which just so happened to be very close by to the male one) before he could catch up and interrogate her before practice started.

No such luck. A hand caught her wrist in a tight grip and pulled her back, stopping her pace. She managed to keep her balance so as not to fall back on the person who _still_ had hold of her wrist. Twisting around, Kaed found herself facing a serious looking Kise, not a good sign. "Kise let go, we have practice." It was a lame but realistic excuse, one the blond was obviously not buying.

"You're avoiding me." Was the model's simple and blunt statement, his grip on Kaed's wrist tightened, "What aren't you telling me?"

Shifting her weight Kaed gave a snipped reply, "Nothing you should be concerned about Kise."

"I can't accept that as an answer. Otani wasn't here today at all, Hiraoka wasn't herself, and Ueno had no idea what happened, I _know_ there's something going on. And you're not telling me," Kise's eyes hardened in a prying and solid gaze.

Shaking her wrist free from Kise's hold Kaed turned away, "Look Kise, I know you just want to help. But please," the auburn eyed girl looked back briefly to lock a firm gaze at him, "trust me, that's all I ask. Just, trust me on this and stay out of it."

Squaring his shoulders Kise watched as his friend disappeared into the female club's gym. Glancing around he saw Kasamatsu ready to drag him to practice and give him a good kick for good measure for being late. Sending one last worried look in the direction Kaed had gone, Kise jogged off to his own practice, hoping he could avoid the physical abuse for the day.

* * *

Basketball practice proved to be a good distraction for Kaed. No one in the club had really tried to befriend her and conversation was kept short and to the point. It was good since it let them focus more on practicing than socializing. Miyashiro Izuko, the third-year captain, was quite strict in her training regimen and allowed no slacking. But she was quite perceptive to the problems and turmoil within her club and let Kaed vent her frustrations by pressing repetitive shooting drills on her, something the ash brown haired girl was thankful for.

Another school day came to an end and Kaed quickly left the locker room, intent on getting home as quick as possible. She hadn't been contacted by anyone since Maiya getting attacked, she didn't know if it was a good sign or not. Ueno had approached her that morning, inquiring about the other two girls, to which Kaed played off the best she could. Considering the possibility of Maiya's attacker being among the student body of Kaijou put her on edge, especially since Ueno could have been the target all along. It was surprisingly easy to mistake the two, the only differences being their eye-color and height, when it came to appearances.

Keeping the event a secret would become much more difficult in the future without a proper excuse. Kise was also another problem, he knew there was something going on, just not what exactly. Concealing the truth would become harder as time went on. Kaed had a feeling that the truth of the events would come to light sooner or later, but for now they would stay in the dark. A sigh escaped her lips as she thought about it. Simply hiding the truth went against her nature. As much as she wanted to do something, she knew it wasn't her place, at least, not now it wasn't. For now though, she would have to let others take care of it.

A brisk breeze blew across the school-yard, lightly ruffling her uniform skirt as she exited the main gate. It was a strange feeling for Kaed, the eerie quiet that surrounded her; the only sounds were coming from the trickle of students leaving and the street itself. Odd silence like this, that used to so common to Kaed, was now an unwelcomed and uninvited guest. The thought was a bitter one, she had grown so accustomed to her friends' perky and striking personalities that the emptiness was now a foreign and uncomfortable feeling.

Trekking along, the former picturesque scene was now dull and lifeless to Kaed. Strange, how the absence of a single person could change the whole atmosphere of a place. Walking silently, the dark-haired girl observed the scenery. The sun was shining brightly, filtering through the trees and heating the pavement. The streets were bustling and the background noise was un-ignorable. The aura of the day was such a sunny and happy one, the irony of it all made Kaed laugh lowly. It seemed to her that the brightest days always cast the darkest shadows, the veiled turmoil covered up by a blinding light, causing a person to turn away from the hidden darkness. Problems were a simple and common part of life, some were just better at hiding them than others.

* * *

Word about Maiya's state had reached Kaed not long after she had gotten home. She was fine and there would be no lasting health problems. Maiya had a good attitude about it and in doing so, lifted Etsu's spirits. The petite girl had gone straight to her after school and was now in a much better mood now that Maiya was fine. Etsu had coped with her sadness, but now all that was left was rage at whoever did it. Kaed learned that Maiya would not be returning to Kaijou until after Seirin's game against Touou, so as to give things time to cool down and let the police investigate some more. The tennis player didn't seem to mind, but had asked that Kaed keep an eye on Ueno for them.

Because of Ueno's position as the potential true target, they had to be careful around her. At the moment Kaed had no idea why anyone would want to intentionally harm her, she was quiet and didn't raise any uproars. But that was one of the reasons, she was always pretty reserved and if something had happened she wouldn't talk. Currently the only thing Kaed listed as a possibility was that it had something to do with the play, and extendedly, to Kise.

She _knew_ that play was bad news, but of course she can't act on anything so insubstantial. Groaning, Kaed fell back onto her bed and stared at the ceiling. Just when she thought that life might be a little more steady and that she had left behind the past, life decided to be a jerk and throw a curveball. Kaed could only hope that the past stayed where it was supposed to be, and _not_ come back to bite everyone in the butt.

The very idea of it was nothing more than wishful thinking, she knew. But wishful thinking was what kept people going when the harshness of reality set in. Hopes and dreams were what motivated miracles. And that was what Kaed had to believe in.

* * *

**A/N: Decision time! Because of this story getting closer to the Touou game I need some reader opinion. There are four possible paths for this story to take for the summer after the game, either way the climaxes will be played out in this story, but the build-ups will be different. In other words all events will have happened but some will not be shown depending on what I or you decide this story should focus on. The other paths will be detailed in **_**Miracles aren't Far Off**_** later. I'm doing this since I don't want to focus on too many sub-plots at once. Without further ado, the four choices. **

**A. Focus on the Play, this path leads to more Ueno development along with the Drama Club. More so spotlights Ueno's side of the mystery as well and vice versa for the B, C, and D paths. Possibility of a slight half crack love square. Akashi will also be formally introduced earlier.**

**B. Focus on the female Basketball Club, we haven't seen much of them yet so this will be new. This path leads to more of Maiya development as well as the girls' Basketball Club (possibility opens up for OC submissions through PM if needed). Spotlights Maiya's side of the story. Possibility for several other schools to be introduced ahead of time and given slightly bigger roles later on. Murasakibara and Himuro will also have formal introductions earlier.**

**(These two are minor paths that will have major events definitely played out but minor omitted, if A or B is chosen. Basically these two already have some guaranteed focus in the main story)**

**C. Focus on Free Time, will lead to more Etsu development. Mostly will have the misadventures of summer. More humor along this path. Etsu and Kaed's backstory together will also be focused on. Also some focus on the Kaijou team. The other GoM/KnS will not be formally introduced until later.**

**D. (Also my default path) Focus on Canon. Leads to canonical development (i.e Kise) and follows the canon more closely in regards to events and details. Backstory is more detailed with the Generation of Miracles and middle school years. Easily the most variable path with a little bit of everything and more focus depending on what works. Formal introductions of Akashi, Murasakibara, and Himuro will follow more so canon in the middle or end of the 'Arc' probably, subject to change. **

**Okay, that was long, but important. Just wanted to give some choice as to what **_**this**_** story will have focus on. I blame myself for having sub-plots so, I'm sorry if this annoys any of you. It's pretty simple, just review or PM the letter and that it is, if you have anything else to say, feel free to add it. **


	15. Chapter 15

**Break 14: Possibility**

* * *

_Keep an open mind at all times, you never know when a path opens up in front of you._

* * *

Class was eerily quiet for the day. It was if someone had hit the mute button on the remote. The only sounds were the teacher talking, the scratch of graphite against paper, and the ticking of the clock. No students spoke, and even the teachers were on edge because of it. The usually upbeat class(es) had turned into what was reminiscent of a funeral service. The air was thick with tension and no one dared to speak. Even the sun seemed to have been dulled by the depressing atmosphere.

News that threat letters had been going around the school had been leaked somehow. Now the students weren't taking it too well. Everyone was tense about it and some were suspecting foul play had already begun. Some (namely Kise) were suspicious that it had something to do as to why Maiya hadn't been at school recently. To Kaed however, it was something to be brushed off, she had seen incidents like this before in elementary and middle school, the rumors and tension would ease off in a few days or so. But for now, she had to keep her guard up so as not to let anything slip.

The copycat himself had also been swept up in it, his senpai on the basketball team didn't think much of it, it was pretty much only the first years who actually paid any mind to the rumors. They had said that the female sports clubs usually pulled a prank of some sort around this time of year anyway. Kise wasn't so sure, Kaed had told him about the tradition before, but if it was just some ruse than why was it affecting them so much? When he had tried to approach Etsu about it, the girl just ran the other way. Ueno seemed just as clueless as he felt. He had already tried Kaed, but she was reasonable, maybe she would listen to his just now thought of theory.

Letting his amber irises drift to where his friend sat next to him, attentively taking notes, Kise gave a small hum in thought. Observing her casually, he focused on her note taking, he could easily copy someone's handwriting…but that particular skill of his wasn't going to help in his predicament. He let out a tired sigh, the more he thought about it the more his brain hurt. Thinking was never his strong suit after all. The blond felt the urge to wallow in self-pity, he wanted to help, _really_. So why was it that they kept on avoiding him?! It wasn't something he did he hoped. He was getting off track, tapping his index finger to his temple the model tried not to forget that all important theory of his.

Going over his plan in his head Kise could only pray that it worked. After class he would corner Kaed and make her listen to what he had to say, using force if necessary. There wasn't any club activities for the day, giving the mid-term relieved students a break from club duties as well. So she would have no excuse for leaving ahead of time. It made Kise giddy, maybe he had finally outwitted her! Though as he thought about his plan, it was starting to seem less like a friendly interrogation and more like some twisted scheme to get information out of a sworn enemy (in his head at least). He blamed it on the Generation of Miracle's resident insane captain for rubbing off on him through all those punishments back in middle school.

Now being quite jittery Kise leapt out of his seat the minute the class was dismissed, anxious to get to his 'plan' (of loosely connected ideas that came from media) started. As Kaed got up to leave, Kise pounced, grabbing her wrist quicker than a flash he started dragging her to one of the more isolated parts of the school, Kaed protesting the entire way. Finding a suitable corner he let go of Kaed's wrist and turned to her, serious expression on, "We need to talk-ssu."

"About what?" was Kaed's simple and ever so slightly nervous reply.

Tapping his foot impatiently, Kise crossed his arms defensively. "You know what I'm talking about. About these rumors, and Otani."

"And?"

Kise threw his arms up in exasperation. So this was how she felt when he was being difficult. He almost felt sorry for her, putting up with that, not like he was changing any time soon. "Tsujicchi! Quit playing dumb! There's something going on around here and I think I know what-ssu! Or…you do. I don't know! Just give me a straight answer."

It was hard for Kaed to resist the temptation to snicker at the peeved blond, his expression was priceless! But as hilarious as it was, this was still supposed to be a (mildly) serious conversation. Setting her expression neutrally Kaed replied smoothly, "And if you know what's going on than do tell."

He didn't exactly know how to reply to that. So he did the next best thing…he coughed. Seeing Kaed's unimpressed look he collected himself and stood straighter, looking down on the shorter girl. Kise internally reminded himself that he _did_ have an idea, and vocalized it. "I think that they have something to do with the girls' sports club's annual prank. Since it's around that time the freshmen who don't know yet would be pretty surprised if something like this came up. So what if someone, taking advantage of the time, actually did something that seemed like a prank, but was actually serious?" He was met with silence. The model internally berated himself, she probably thought he was crazy for thinking that!

That couldn't be further from the truth. "That…was actually surprisingly intelligent of you Kise. I can't believe I didn't think of that myself, the possibility of that is pretty high." Kaed could only blink, stunned. So maybe the copycat wasn't as stupid or dense as she originally thought.

The first thing Kise felt was a swell of pride. Kaed was truly listening to him! The second thing he felt was offense as he realized the underlying possibility behind her words. "Hey! I _am_ intelligent!" His serious façade faded to be replaced with a child-like pout.

"Well you sure don't act it," Kaed retorted dryly. Scratch what she thought earlier, Kise _was_ (probably) as stupid and dense as she thought.

Aforementioned model stuck out his bottom lip even more and hunched his shoulders, "So mean Tsujicchi-ssu…" he grumbled. "Hang on," he tilted his head in confusion, "does this mean you think I'm right?"

Shrugging Kaed clarified, "Well, I'm considering it as a possibility. It does make sense when you think about it."

"Now can you just tell me what happened?" Kise asked, clasping his hands together, eyes sparkling.

"No," Kaed said frankly. Kise's head slammed down in disappointment. "But that doesn't mean I won't." The blonde's head jolted up, eyes wide. "Look, just don't tell Etsu-san I told you, you can't tell Ueno either." Kise was nodding quickly, fair locks bouncing up and down. "Well, you see, Otani was kind of, well, assaulted," seeing Kise's near freak-out scream about to happen, she clamped a firm hand over his mouth, muffling whatever was coming out. "Don't go and make assumptions Kise, she's fine," removing her hand from his mouth, Kaed looked at her companion to make sure he wasn't going to do anything they were going to regret, receiving only a glare in return she rolled her eyes and continued. "The police think that whoever attacked Otani got the wrong person and wasn't the intended target. She also received a threat letter that was pretty hard to read and was apparently supposed to be for Ueno, both Etsu-san and Otani thought it was a joke and didn't think much of it until now," Kaed summed up.

Nodding along, Kise gave the auburn eyed girl a curious look when she finished. "Okay…but why couldn't you tell me earlier?"

Scratching the back of her head awkwardly Kaed cleared her throat, "Erm, well, Etsu-san told me that you kind of came up somehow in the threat letter."

His reaction to being told that he was in a threat letter was astonishingly mild. He only nodded in understanding before moving on. "So, Tsujicchi, how are we supposed to do this-ssu?"

"Do what?" Kaed questioned, just what was that annoying model thinking?

Kise regarded her like she had just asked a question with the most obvious answer in the world. "Solve the mystery, _duh_." The blond stated with that extra emphasis on the obvious part.

Now it was Kaed's turn to look at Kise like _he_ had just stated the dumbest line ever. "Are you serious Kise? Are you _serious_? We can't do that! Just let the authorities handle it, we already have enough to do without this."

The blond placed his hands at his hips, "C'mon Tsujicchi, live a little-ssu! Besides, aren't we being good friends and looking out for our fellow first years by doing this~?" His singsong tone made Kaed stiffen, that _voice_ and that _look_, he was doing it again! "You know you want to~," he hummed. A hand found its way to hers, gently squeezing it in a soothing way, oh he was laying it on _really_ thick this time. What exactly he was doing Kaed had no idea, but he always did it when he wanted something from her.

She hated to say it but, "Fine," it worked _every damn time_. It was also one of those rare occasions when Kaed would actually mildly curse even if it was only in her head, yes it made her _that_ irritated. That weird technique thing was also one of the few things that got Kaed to budge from her decisions and be persuaded by her friend's to not be such a stick in the mud who had no imagination or fun. The others were being annoyed constantly and Akashi…just Akashi.

Kise triumphant countenance only dumped acid on Kaed's already decaying dignity. That dumb model knew how to get to her with ease, she reminded herself to try and build up her immunity to his pleadings again. A large grin split the blonde's face, "Great~! Now let's get started!"

And _how_ Kaed was really wishing she never opened up her mouth.

* * *

The duo's temporary HQ of sorts had ended up being an unused room in one of the emptier school buildings. Even if club activities were technically closed for the day, the school allowed usage of the facilities until the usual time for the more dedicated. It had been Kise's idea, Kaed swore that the blond was watching way too many movies lately from how seriously he was taking this. There were only a few scattered desks and old supplies in the room, but it worked for what they needed.

Kise seemed much too happy to begin 'investigating' as he put it. "Right~," he chirped, "let's get started. Suspect pool-ssu?"

His current partner-in-investigating looked at him apprehensively, "Did you really just say that?"

Pouting, Kise glared slightly at her, "What? It sounded appropriate-ssu."

Kaed could only sigh, "Suspect pool you were saying? Well if we go by your theory than we've narrowed it considerably, sort of. Our suspects as of now would be the entirety of the female first years since it's the upperclassmen who don't really pay much mind to it, apparently it's only for the first-years."

"Great," Kise said, "that _really_ helps Tsujicchi."

Leaning back against one of the desks Kaed leered at the blond in irritation, "Well if you've forgotten, you were the one to come up with it."

Mumbling to himself, Kise sat down on a stray chair, "We aren't getting anywhere," he said, exasperated, "we need some kind of lead!" he wailed throwing his arms up.

Making a point to ignore the wailing model, Kaed absently checked her bag. Seeing a message on her phone, she flicked it open and scanned through the short text. After reading through, she smiled slightly to the whining-to-himself blond. "Kise, I think I just found the lead we're looking for."

* * *

**A/N: I've just been watching way too much Psych recently…Please do vote on the summer path if you can, I'd really appreciate it! Updates might not come as fast, suffering a mild case of writers block. Any cures or suggestions for it is welcome. Thanks to the few people who did reply!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Break 15: Paint Splatters**

* * *

_What is it you see in drops of ink, words behind the dark veil._

* * *

As Kise had learned on their way to the Art room, their lead was one Ueno Hisa. From her message, Kaed had deduced that the shorter girl was worried about _something_. What had Kaed worried, however, was how she was going to be able to get Kise to keep his mouth shut about the threat letter that had been addressed to her.

Sliding open the door, the 'detective duo' was met with a messy sight. Canvases, paint, brushes, paper, pens, pencils, watercolors; every type of art supply in existence was scattered about the room. The lone figure inside was seated with poise in front of a single canvas. The area around the figure and canvas was the only debris-free part of the room. With her back facing the newly arrived duo, Ueno failed to notice them come up behind her; concentrating to the careful strokes of her brush.

The scene depicted was of a bridge at sunrise. The details were exact and the shading careful. Her washes of the sky captured the pink and orange hues like a photograph. Wispy clouds were but thin strokes of white and gray. The lighting reflected in the water like an imperfect mirror, the small ripples of the current merging with the light yellow sun. It seemed like a small detail, but there were two dark silhouettes of people, watching the sun rise together. Kise couldn't help it, he gasped, "Uenocchi, this is really good!" he gawked.

Ueno jumped slightly and whirled around, concentration broken. "W-when d-did you get here?! And Uenocchi?" Luckily, her painting was untouched, the scene as calm and serene as ever.

"Sorry about that, we just got here," Kaed smiled apologetically to her friend. Ueno now being called 'Uenocchi' wasn't much of a surprise to her, it was going to happen eventually.

The model nodded in apology, awkwardly scratching the back of his head, sheepish smile playing at his lips. "Oops, sorry Uenocchi," his eyes then brightened, "I add –cchi to the people who I acknowledge! You're artwork is amazing-ssu! I can see why Kiyo-senpai loves you so much!" the blond gushed.

Seeing Ueno's face getting redder and redder by the second, Kaed clamped a hand over the prattling model's mouth. Words coming out muffled, Kise tugged her hand away and pouted. "What was _that_ for Tsujicchi-ssu?"

Her expression showed no sympathy, "Have you forgotten why we came here Kise?" Honestly, the blond got side-tracked much too easily. His attention span (when not involving basketball or modeling) rivaled that of a goldfish's.

Tapping a fist into his palm, Kise had a light-bulb moment, "Oh yeah! What was it you wanted to talk about Uenocchi-ssu? You sounded worried about something in your text."

Fiery red blush fading to a light pink Ueno bowed her head slightly. "Y-yeah, I was just wondering if you two knew why Maiya-chan hasn't been coming to school lately. That and why Kiyo-senpai keeps trying to escort me to and from places."

The two basketball players exchanged looks, they could answer the first one easy, but Kiyo was bothering Ueno? They would have to look into that next.

"Otani is recovering from a nasty flu," Kaed said smoothly, "she's fine."

Unnoticed by the two girls, Kise had shifted his gaze to Ueno's painting. Leaning forward to examine it, he couldn't help but think there was something about it that was familiar to him. "Ne, Uenocchi, where did you get your inspiration for this painting?"

Her pink cheeks once again flared as she stuttered an answer, "U-uh, w-w-well, can you wait until I'm done Kise-san?" Trying to calm herself down, Ueno turned back to her painting and did a few more light strokes to get out her emotion.

Shrugging Kise replied, "Eh~ sure. But make sure to tell me first thing-ssu!"

Ueno nodded, happiness rising. Catching sight of Kaed's teasing smile, she turned away and tried to change the subject. "Okay, well, there's still something else. Can you two go talk to Kiyo-senpai for me please? I tried myself but he didn't listen. I'd really appreciate it if you got him off my back."

"No problem Ueno," Kaed said, "we'll go do that."

"Thanks guys, really. He should be in the Drama Club room right now. But bye for now!" Ueno said, in a much better mood than before.

With that, Kaed pulled Kise along and out of the Art Room. Kise waved in farewell to Ueno, who gave a small wave herself. Walking down the hallway, Kaed smiled slightly at Kise, "You actually didn't spill anything. What a surprise."

Tossing Kaed a sideways glance Kise grumbled, "You didn't have to put it like that Tsujicchi. And why did you say _we_ were going to talk to Kiyo-senpai? He hates me!" the model wailed, "And after I tell him off for Uenocchi he's going to hate me even more…" he near wept.

Kaed sighed, "Just play it cool Kise. I'm sure he won't hate you if you told him Ueno wanted you to do it. Besides, we don't even know if it's because he's a stalker, what if he knows about what's going on?"

"I guess I can see your point," Kise said, rubbing his chin in thought. "But if Kiyo-senpai tries to kill me I'm blaming you-ssu!"

"Well you better get ready to run because we're here," Kaed said, stopping in front of the familiar decorative door. Knocking a few times before a voice called 'Come in.', Kaed glanced at Kise, who steeled himself. Sliding open the door, Kaed greeted the president. "Kiyo-senpai, we need to ask you a few questions."

Almond eyes locked onto Kise's tall frame were narrowed in mistrust. Lacing his fingers together Kiyo rested his head on them, leering at the two in suspicion. "What is it you want? I'm very busy you know." His voice was clipped and harsh, he obviously didn't want to be talking to them.

Clearing her throat, Kaed spoke before Kise could even open his mouth. "It's about Ueno." At that moment, the air was filled with a tense silence. Only the faint breaths they took were audible.

After what seemed like hours but was only a few minutes, Kiyo spoke in a hushed tone. Seriousness hardening his features. "I'm only looking out for her."

* * *

Their meeting with Kiyo had gone surprisingly well, after a few…mishaps, the group had managed a civil conversation and had gained some new knowledge. Kiyo had overheard several first-years gossiping about Ueno, apparently some plan had gone awry and now they needed a new one. When he had confronted them, they had played it off as a rumor and that they didn't exactly know what was going on. So as a safety precaution, he had started hanging around Ueno more. He had admitted he had no idea what was going on and had originally thought it was the girl's prank plans, but then realized that none of the girls talking played sports. Things had become even more fishy then, and he had looked into it and found nothing. Telling Kiyo of what happened to Maiya, he was quite empathetic and agreed that was probably the plan that failed. The third year had agreed to help out by keeping an eye on Ueno (albeit from a distance), now that the initial part was finished Kise and Kaed had decided to take a break from their theories as they walked to the gym, where Kise had extra practice.

"Say, Tsujicchi, why don't you watch me for once?" Kise suggested as they came close to the entrance of the gym.

"Sorry Kise, I can't, homework and all," the girl said, shaking her head as they walked into the large building. From what she could see, only the first-stringers were there today.

Kise face fell in disappointment, "_Please_, you never watch anymore. Stay for at least a little bit." He begged. The copycat had started missing her presence at practices and more rarely, games. Forgetting that back in middle school she was actually in the Basketball Club, as she had pointed out numerous times. Still pleading to the brunette female, who had deemed it something to ignore, both of them failed to see the angry captain storming up to them.

"You're late!" Kasamatsu yelled at Kise, landing a solid kick to the back of the blonde's head. Falling into the floor with a thud, Kise on reflex began crying (literally) for mercy to his captain who was currently grinding his foot into his head. The other first-stringers and Kaed merely looked on in mild amusement. It was a common occurrence, Kise idiocy managed to annoy Kasamatsu who took out his frustrations by abusing the blond, not like no one else did it…

Kaijou's center noticing another person in the room, turned his attention away from Kise's abuse. "Are you a friend of Kise?"

Kaed blinked and then pointed to herself, "Me? I guess you can say that, you're Kobori-senpai right?"

The now known Kobori nodded, "I am, does Kise talk about us?"

"Does he talk about us to any of your friends?!" another one of them asked, Kaed recognized him as Moriyama.

Tilting her head slightly Kaed looked at him weirdly, "No…?" it came out as more of a question than an answer. Kise did in fact tell her about his teammates at times, mostly about how much Kasamatsu bullied him and how Moriyama tried to get him to introduce him to cute girls.

"Stop being friendly with my teammates and help me Tsujicchi-ssu!" Kise cried out from the floor, where Kasamatsu was still looming dangerously over him.

Feeling a metaphorical drop of sweat roll down the back of her head, Kaed shifted her amused gaze back to the model. "Ah, sorry Kise. Kasamatsu-senpai, do you mind getting off of Kise?"

Stiffening at the sound of a _girl's_ voice, the Kaijou captain slowly turned around, hoping it was just a guy with a higher pitched voice. Seeing it was indeed a female, Kasamatsu could feel himself start to sweat. He was _terrible_ with girls, in fact he couldn't even talk normally to one. So he just stepped away from Kise and nodded weakly.

The copycat stood up, cringing in discomfort as he nursed his aching back and head. Muttering incoherently about being abused and bullied around, he started walking to the locker room to get changed. Leaving Kaed with the Kaijou team.

Seeing Kasamatsu's awkwardness and discomfort around her, Kaed felt a bit bad about it. Nodding a small apology to the captain she turned to Moriyama. "Eh, I'll be taking my leave now, sorry for intruding on your practice. If you don't mind, can you tell Kise that I went home so he doesn't freak out?"

"Werr do it!" Hayakawa declared, fired up for the smallest of things. "You can count on us!"

"Thanks senpai, look out for him for me will you? See you," Kaed said simply, making her way out of the gym. Ignoring the eyes on her back. Honestly, Kise had told her they had no luck with girls but _really_? She sighed, now…back to walking home alone and boring schoolwork, yay.

* * *

Silence and stares were not what he was expecting when he got back from changing into his basketball uniform. Neither was the expectation in their gazes. Kise, feeling mildly creeped out, did what he did best. He shrieked, "What!? Stop looking at me like that senpai! It's weird-ssu! And where's Tsujicchi?"

"She left," Moriyama said, looking particularly disappointed in Kise. "Why didn't you tell me that 'Tsujicchi' you babble about was a girl? She could have had friends you could introduce me to!"

For once it was Kise turn to look like someone had a screw loose, in this case, Moriyama. "Eh~? You didn't know Tsujicchi was a girl? Better yet, you actually were listening to me when I talk about them? In that case she and Kurokocchi-"

It was at this time the team tuned out Kise's ramblings. Sure they caught a few words and sentences here and there, but for the most part he was white noise. They had learned that the moment 'Kurokocchi' showed up in his dialogue they should ignore him until his prattling was done. Or until Kasamatsu reached his limit and kicked and/or yelled at him. That was the case this time.

"Shut up Kise! We didn't ask for your life story, now get moving! Ten laps around the gym as a warm up now!" Kasamatsu ordered. Kise was about to complain when he saw his captain's twitching eye. He supposed he was lucky he got off with just laps this time instead of getting kicked…again.

* * *

_**Omake 1**_

After what seemed like hours but was only a few minutes, Kiyo spoke in a hushed tone. Seriousness hardening his features. "I'm only looking out for her."

With a great and dramatic flourish (that easily rivaled that of a seasoned actor) Kise pointed an accusing finger at the Drama Club's president. "So you _are_ stalking Uenocchi!"

If Kaed had been drinking something she would have spat it out, taken another sip and then spat it out again (this time on Kise for good measure) just to make a point of how absolutely surprised she was. That was one very interesting accusation Kise had just made, and Kiyo's reaction easily topped hers. His jaw was hanging open and he spluttered and hacked in a very non-professional way.

"T-the _audacity_ of that! I'm far too much of a gentleman to stalk somebody! If anyone is stalking someone it would be you pretty boy!" Kiyo shot back after collecting himself, "And since when were you allowed to call _my_ Ueno-hime, Ueno_cchi_?!" he greatly emphasized the affectionate suffix by throwing his arms up and slamming them back onto his desk.

"Since _today_," Kise said with a smug smirk, "and Uenocchi isn't yours you good for nothing stalker!"

Kiyo's temper flared up as he almost launched himself at the blond, "I am _not_ a stalker you imbecile!"

"Stalker~," Kise taunted with a childish tune.

"Uncouth idiot!" Kiyo spat back.

"Creep!"

"Moron with no self-respect!"

"Crazy clingy stalker!"

"Everyone is entitled to be stupid, but you abuse the privilege!"

"You're even more self-absorbed than I am; it would never work."

"It'll be a lonely day when all you have to keep you company is your own ego!"

"You have a striking face. How many times were you struck there?"

"Oh dear! Looks like you fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down!"

"You can't say that! I'm a model!"

"Well I'm an actor!"

"And _I'm_ going to need to hide two bodies if the both of you don't shut the hell up!"

Needless to say, they both promptly shut their mouths. Finally, now they could get down to business. Kaed was internally thanking Akashi for all those intimidation tips, maybe having a crazy, two-sided, violent, possibly-maniacal, basketball captain, always right, genius as an old acquaintance wasn't so bad after all.

* * *

**A/N: I'm sorry! I just **_**had**_** to do that Omake. So what did you think of it? Want more? NG bloopers? Feel free to tell me! Oh yeah, the whole Kaijou team cameo was inspired in part by the **_**Replace**_** light novels and character bios. **


	17. Chapter 17

**Break 16: When in Doubt…**

* * *

_Keep an escape route from schemes clear_

* * *

On that particular day, Kaed wasn't sure if she should be happy or worried about her friends' increasingly perky and sprightly behavior. Under normal circumstances, she would have been glad that the tension had worn off and everyone was back to their usual cheerful selves. But…these weren't _normal_ circumstances in any regard. Time had passed and now it was only a day away from the Touou-Seirin game, and Maiya's return. As expected, both Kise and Etsu had been progressively getting more lively as the days passed, and in turn, Ueno as well. But there was something Kaed couldn't quite put her finger on that just seemed…off to her. It wasn't Kiyo's mildly stalker-ish habits, Kise's jumpy attitude toward the coming basketball games, nor Etsu's idiotic grins. No, there was something else going on, and Kaed wasn't sure she wanted to know what.

Nonetheless, the blunt girl, having the absolute _worst_ luck when it came to things she _did not_, let us repeat for emphasis, _did not_, want to know/do, was _very_ wary of her giddy friends that day. If one were to ask her she would simply duck away so as not to worsen her already downhill chances of escaping whatever ridiculous scheme her oh-so-amazing friends had cooked up. To her, it was a fate she had unknowingly resigned herself to when she befriended the odd bunch. Being the only completely sane person of the group (in her professional and _completely_ unbiased opinion, that-might-have-something-to-do-with-her-experienc e-with-the-Generation of Miracles) tended to have its downsides. Namely being dragged along into all kinds of shenanigans she could have sworn they should have been arrested and/or banned from places for.

Such is the life of an unwilling (yet oddly always persuaded) friend to some of the quirkiest and strange group of people to grace the Earth. Something that always made Kaed nearly smack her head into the closest object was how _incredibly_ oblivious other people were to their oddness. She supposed they did put on a good front. Of course, one didn't need to know them long before thinking, 'What did I just get myself into?', as Kaed had done on multiple occasions.

As of now, she was beginning to regret not listening to her gut and pretending to be sick. If she did she wouldn't be it this awkward situation right now! Awkward situation being: her being stuck (because of a _janitor_ of all things) in a small broom closet with Kise and Etsu, and the unsuspecting Masahiko and Ume rounding out the cramped group. Naturally, things were not very comfortable for them at all. How this happened? Well, we're going to have to back track a few hours after school, club activities, and their studies had been finished for the day.

* * *

Now, Tsuji Kaed was a sensible and relatively laid back person at her best. As such, she wasn't the type of person to simply do something on a whim, even if it was for her friends. So it was to be expected that the female was at least a bit suspicious when Etsu and Kise had nabbed her right after practice had ended, claiming they were going to do 'Something fun' but of course their views of 'fun' differed greatly, which had Kaed worried.

That worry grew as she saw their grins, it wasn't their normal happy-go-lucky grins either, it was those ever so slightly mischievous ones. Something that Kaed had learned foretold of a coming plan that could either end really well, or really bad.

"Remind me again," the reluctant brunette said, forced smile twitching, "what are we doing here?" 'Here', was one of the older school buildings in Kaijou. Were they here after school hours? Yes. Were they breaking and entering? According to the law and Kaed, yes, yes they were. Did Etsu care? Not really. Did Kise care? As much as he could.

Puffing up her cheeks Etsu turned to Kaed, pouty frown in place. "We're here because we couldn't find a suitable place in the mountains that we could get to. It's tradition to do some kind of test of courage in the summer and this is the best we could do!"

Kise tilted his head in confusion. "Hang on, you told me that we were here because you think the school might be haunted and/or there was someone here keeping up the weird stuff that's been happening. If what you said was the case, why didn't you just wait for break to start-ssu?"

"I think the problem here isn't when she pulls this," Kaed grumbled, sending a sharp look Etsu's way. "But the fact we could get in major trouble for this."

Etsu waved her off with a knowing grin, "Don't worry about that, I cleared it with my teacher. She said we could do it, since the staff wants to know what's going on too." Needless to say, Kise and Kaed exchanged skeptical glances with each other. Sure Etsu was a pretty honest person, but would they really be okay?

"No time for thinking!" Etsu chided harshly, "C'mon let's goooo~!" With that, the petite (which was even more noticeable in the contrast of her tall friends) girl began pushing the more reluctant two along.

* * *

"Okay so maybe this wasn't such a good idea," Etsu barely got out of her throat. The old building was surprisingly creepy with them being the only people in the building. Coming at sunset made it even worse as the shadows danced along the walls; a low taunting of what they didn't know. A small draft blew through the hallway, causing the trio to involuntarily shiver and get closer together.

Letting a sigh escape, Kaed rolled her eyes. It was Etsu's idea in the first place and now she was being the cowardly one. Honestly she thought Kise was going to be the first to chicken out. As they made their way toward the back of the building a scraping sound made its way to their ears. Freezing in place, the first-year trio huddled back-to-back as they scanned the area. The shadow of a large figure was cast along the wall, a thudding and scraping accompanied it. The shadow getting closer, and what was making it was starting to come around the corner. Seeing _something_ poke around the corner and into sight, Kise (ever the vocal one) let out a small yelp and ducked behind Kaed, clutching onto the brunette's sleeve. Scratch what she thought earlier Kise was the first one to chicken out.

Just as Etsu was getting ready to run, the figure came into full view, stopping both of them in their tracks. "Masahiko-senpai?"

The boy's wiry frame was stopped, hands still on the handles of the cart he was pushing, loaded with various items. "Hiraoka-chan? Kise-kun? Tsuji-chan? What are the three of you doing here so late?"

"W-we could ask you the same question!" Etsu spluttered. Waving her hands wildly, the short girl let out a strangled cry of frustration. "We thought you were a monster or something!"

The look she received from the upperclassman was both apprehensive and amused. "As you can see I was just moving some stuff around for the Drama Club," he said gesturing to the cart he had. "What are you three doing here?"

"Investigating the strange happenings of Kaijou!" Etsu replied cheerfully. Now that she knew the sounds were only her senpai she felt much more at ease. "And maybe take a gander at the seven mysteries as well," she added with a playful wink.

Masahiko chuckled lightly, "Good luck with that than. Kiyo-kun and I tried that our first year here as well. No luck."

"A-are you sure about that?" Kise said, shaky hand pointing down from where they came from where a dark silhouette seemed to be clutching its head and moaning. Taking a single shared look at whatever it was sent the now quartet dashing _away_ from the thing, which only prompted it to chase after them.

After running (jogging) a few yards, Masahiko stopped short with a confused look as he glanced back. "Guys…I don't think that's a monster." Coming closer into the dim lighting, the figure was made out to be a female human. A _familiar_ female human.

Cheeks inflating in annoyance, Isobe Ume placed her hands on her hips. "Okay, I know I had sort of a bad hair-day, but that doesn't mean it's okay to just run away like that!"

The others also came to a stand-still; sheepish expressions on their features. "Ah-ha, sorry, I guess we got a little paranoid," Etsu half-heartedly chuckled.

"I wasn't talking to you," Ume snapped. Giving glares to the others in the group, her eyes came to rest on Kise. Who, at the moment, was trying to make himself as unnoticeable as possible, by hiding behind Kaed (who you might add, is _smaller_ than him). "Kise-kun!" she shrieked and near launched herself at the cowering blond.

Eyes catching onto Ume's movements, Kaed ducked away in the nick of time, leaving the unfortunate Kise to be clung to by Ume. Shaking his arm in a futile effort to detach the plum haired girl from where she had latched on to, Kise looked helplessly at the other three students who simply let it be. Some friends they were.

"E-eto, Isobe-san, can you let go of me please-ssu?" Kise asked feebly from his uncomfortable (for him) position.

Adoring hazel eyes looked up at him in a puppy dog-ish way. "But Kise-kun~ this is an excellent time to practice for the play! I'm your girlfriend after all. And call me Ume, Isobe sounds much too formal," Ume said, still clinging to Kise's arm with a death-grip. He was pretty sure he was losing some circulation from how firm her grip was.

An amused chuckle sounded from Masahiko as he watched his kouhais. "That's right," he mused, "Kiyo-kun did say your characters are in a relationship, Isobe-chan is right, this is a pretty good opportunity to get comfortable with each other. Knowing the president, you never know what he'll come up with for you guys." Masahiko exchanged entertained smiles with Kaed and Etsu at Kise's paling face and Ume's sparkling eyes.

"Really? Like what?!" Ume's overly eager voice rang out in the near empty hallway.

"Oh, well I can't say for sure, but," a teasing glint was in the upperclassmen's eyes, "he was talking about Rikuto (Kise) being a cheat and Chouko (Ume) and Yoko (Ueno) competing over who helps him out the most and ultimately reforms him." It took all Kaed and Etsu's willpower to not break down in a fit of laughter at their expressions. Kise seemed to be going through a loss of color and Ume seemed to be on cloud nine. An interesting combination since Ume was still attached to Kise's (now limp) arm.

The group was still standing around waiting for Ume and Kise to recover when they heard the sound of wheels scraping against the smooth floor. Twisting her head to look down the hallway, Etsu's eyes widened at what she saw. Not even waiting to explain, she began pushing and shoving the confused and protesting group into a nearby storage closet. Ignoring their protests, Etsu (being surprisingly strong) managed to herd the group into their current cramped positions. Closing and blocking off the door, Etsu sighed in relief. Looking up, she saw the questioning and slightly annoyed gazes of her companions, she smiled sheepishly.

"What was that all about?" Kaed queried harshly, trying to maneuver into a more comfortable spot against the wall.

"Sorry," Etsu whispered, but still loud enough for the group to hear. "I had to do it, something worse than any paranormal was headed straight for us."

Masahiko raised an eyebrow, "And that would be?"

A hard expression settled on Etsu's usually soft features, "The _janitor_," she said sharply, eyes narrowing.

"What does the janitor have to do with anything!?" Kise cried, albeit quieter since that seemed to be what everyone was doing. "And can someone switch places with me?" he sounded slightly desperate. Trying to wriggle his way out of Ume's vice-grip was proving to be much harder than he originally thought, the confined space didn't help either. Presently, they were quite squished together. The small closet was only a small, four-walled room. Etsu was in front of the door, with Ume on her left in the corner with Kise near the wall, Kaed in the left top-most corner, and Masahiko taking up the little space there was left on the right side. Which happened to be the small shelf's space as well. As expected, it was a little awkward for everyone to be so close together.

"Why would you want to switch Kise-kun?" Ume asked innocently. Kise just answered by trying to get what little distance he could with her, and inching closer to Kaed in the process.

Etsu placed her ear to the door before answering, "Everything," she said, "that janitor would have kicked us out and more. He's _evil_ I tell you."

"An evil janitor, where haven't we heard that one before?" Masahiko said, leaning closer to the wall.

Shooting a glare in her senpai's direction, Etsu huffed. "I know it sounds cliché, but Takara-san is evil. He gave me cleaning duty for a week just because I left some papers in the music room for crying out loud!"

"That is pretty harsh," Masahiko agreed, "I can see why you pushed us in here, but won't he see the cart or have seen us already?"

The black haired girl shook her head, "Nope, he has bad eyesight and will just assume that someone left the cart out, and maybe go on a mini-rant about lazy teenagers."

"Ah," was the only response.

* * *

Minutes ticked by in silence as they waited for Takara the janitor to pass by. It was a tense and uncomfortable atmosphere for the teens as they tried not to concentrate on how close they all were to each other. Only about ten minutes passed until Etsu peeped out the door and gave the okay to come out. They had waited pretty long to make sure the janitor was out of eye and ear shot so they were all pretty happy to finally be out of that closet.

Exiting the confined space, the Kaijou students had noted, and reasonably freaked out a little, that while they were wrapped up, night had fallen. Now it was almost completely dark in the hallway. Not wanting to stay in the building any longer, the group made a hasty retreat outside where they had to climb over the walls, which wasn't very hard for the more athletic of the bunch, but a little annoying for those who didn't have much physical training.

Bidding each other a quick farewell (and pulling Ume out of Kise's invaded personal space, which was a first considering how much the blond invaded other's personal space so much), the group split off in the walk home. Masahiko and Ume going one way, Etsu going another after a small walk with the other two, leaving Kaed and Kise to their usual route.

"And then there were two," Kise said softly, mostly to himself.

It still garnered glance from Kaed, who shrugged. "Eh, doesn't really matter. I'm just never doing something like that again, it was stuffy in that closet."

Kise let out a small laugh, "We really have a thing for small spaces don't we Tsujicchi?" There was a playful tone to the question, almost teasing.

He received a cold glare in return. "I thought we weren't going to bring that up again," Kaed grumbled, not wanting to think about the several other experiences she had that could make a claustrophobic faint. The day was over, the female wasn't really in the mood to deal with any of the model's possible ramblings this late.

"So cruel~," the blond muttered to himself. A thought drifted into his head, making him slow to a complete stop. "Say, Tsujicchi," the auburn eyed girl looked up to meet Kise's own cunning-tinged ocher irises, a sly smirk tugging at his lips, "why don't we take a small detour-ssu?"

So, maybe the day wasn't over yet.

* * *

**A/N: Cliffhanger ending, not my usual style but since there are some important events coming up, might as well try and make it suspenseful. I apologize for the late updates but I've been busy and writing for my other stories as well. Feedback is welcomed and appreciated and as a reminder, next chapter will be the last for the 'path' choosing which is seriously tied up right now.**


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